QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Piñon Hills, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Piñon Hills in the 24 hours to 4:16 pm PST (00:16 UTC). The last one was M 1.7, 6 km (4 mi) SSW, at 6:36 pm PDT on 22 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Piñon Hills

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) west-southwest of Piñon Hills, CA, at 1:34 am PST on 19 November 2020 (09:34 UTC), 5.6 km deep. 3 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 4km WSW of Pinon Hills, CA

80 km (50 mi) NE of Los Angeles, CA · 33 km (21 mi) WSW of Victorville, CA

1:34 am PST, Nov 19, 2020 · · 5.6 km deep · released about 8.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Piñon Hills Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Los Angeles County 58 kmOrange County 83 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
1:34 am PST on 19 November 2020 ()
Where
4 km (3 mi) west-southwest of Piñon Hills, CA · earthquakes near Piñon Hills
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
5.6 km below the surface
Felt
3 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Los Angeles County, 58 km WSW
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, 7 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 2184 days ago

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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Piñon Hills, 4 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: Wrightwood 9 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 8.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.4 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 4.4 on 2018-08-29 — about 13,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 The 1991 Sierra Madre, California Earthquake · 32 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 The 1990 Upland, California Earthquake · 31 km S of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 3km W of Lytle Creek, CA · 24 km SE 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 34.4215, -117.6930. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Los Angeles County, CA 58 km (36 mi) WSW earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Orange County, CA 83 km (52 mi) S earthquakes near Orange County
Kern County, CA 140 km (87 mi) NW earthquakes near Kern County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

27 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.6 3km SSE of Charter Oak, CA
  2. 1.9 6km N of Fontana, CA
  3. 2.0 4km SW of San Bernardino, CA
  4. 1.6 4km N of Fontana, CA
  5. 1.5 7km SW of Pearblossom, CA
  6. 1.6 3km SSE of Muscoy, CA
  7. 2.6 7km SSE of Littlerock, CA
  8. 1.8 1km WNW of Fontana, CA
  9. 2.9 7km NNE of Rancho Cucamonga, CA
  10. 2.1 7km N of Fontana, CA
  11. 2.2 14km NNE of Glendora, CA
  12. 1.7 5km WSW of Lytle Creek, CA
  13. 2.1 5km W of Devore, CA
  14. 2.2 4km ESE of Altadena, CA
  15. 2.8 6km SSW of Pearblossom, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.