Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.1ml
Earthquake near Banning, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Banning in the 24 hours to 4:43 am PST (12:43 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 15 km (10 mi) SSW, at 8:30 pm PDT on 14 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 87 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Banning
This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) north-northeast of Banning, CA, at 5:05 am PDT on 29 October 2020 (12:05 UTC), 14 km deep.
USGS: 5km NNE of Banning, CA
14 km (9 mi) NE of Beaumont, CA · 144 km (90 mi) E of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 5:05 am PDT on 29 October 2020 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) north-northeast of Banning, CA · earthquakes near Banning
- Magnitude
- M 2.1 (ml)
- Depth
- 14 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Riverside County, 82 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, under 1 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2205 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Banning, CA
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Banning, 5 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
Likely felt in: Banning 5 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 37 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 410,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 290,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 26× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.1 about 37 lb of TNT
Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.
For this area
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.5 on 2018-05-08 — about 4,400 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 32 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 46 km NE of this epicentre
- 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 26 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 26 km N of this epicentre
- 6.2 3 km SE of San Bernardino, California · 40 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 49 km E of this epicentre
Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.
Where
Epicentre 33.9673, -116.8455. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County, CA | 82 km (51 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Orange County, CA | 92 km (57 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Orange County |
| San Diego County, CA | 105 km (65 mi) | S | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 116 km (72 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near San Bernardino County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
56 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 5km SSW of Banning, CA
- 1.9 2km E of Moreno Valley, CA
- 1.6 2km SE of Muscoy, CA
- 1.5 4km WSW of Calimesa, CA
- 1.8 6km S of Mentone, CA
- 1.8 4km NNW of San Jacinto, CA
- 1.6 18km N of Yucca Valley, CA
- 1.8 10km SW of Morongo Valley, CA
- 1.6 4km SE of Loma Linda, CA
- 2.3 4km SE of Loma Linda, CA
- 2.1 4km SE of Loma Linda, CA
- 1.5 2km E of Loma Linda, CA
- 2.3 6km S of Beaumont, CA
- 1.5 6km SSW of Redlands, CA
- 2.2 8km SE of Valle Vista, CA
Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.
On USGS
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.