QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0ml

Earthquake near Yucca Valley, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Yucca Valley in the 24 hours to 4:06 am PST (12:06 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 18 km (11 mi) SE, at 9:51 am PDT on 1 August 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 46 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Yucca Valley

This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) north of Yucca Valley, CA, at 2:11 am PDT on 21 June 2020 (09:11 UTC), 2.2 km deep. 34 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 16km N of Yucca Valley, CA

95 km (59 mi) ENE of Riverside, CA · 47 km (29 mi) N of Cathedral City, CA

2:11 am PDT, Jun 21, 2020 · · 2.2 km deep · released about 950 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Yucca Valley Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 70 kmSan Bernardino County 71 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
2:11 am PDT on 21 June 2020 ()
Where
16 km (10 mi) north of Yucca Valley, CA · earthquakes near Yucca Valley
Magnitude
M 3.0 (ml)
Depth
2.2 km below the surface
Felt
34 reports · strongest reported intensity V
Nearest
Riverside County, 70 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
Homestead Valley fault, 8 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 1917 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 37 km (23 mi) from the epicentre. In Yucca Valley, 16 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Yucca Valley 16 km, intensity III · Joshua Tree 17 km, intensity III · Morongo Valley 27 km, intensity II · Desert Hot Springs 33 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 950 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 950 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 170 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 39 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 6 km S of this epicentre
  2. 7.1 The 1999 Hector Mine, California Earthquake · 42 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 37 km W of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 34 km SSE of this epicentre
  5. 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 32 km SSE 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 34.2543, -116.4298. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 70 km (44 mi) SE earthquakes near Riverside County
San Bernardino County, CA 71 km (44 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

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

  1. 1.7 11km E of Desert Hot Springs, CA
  2. 1.5 11km S of Joshua Tree, CA
  3. 2.1 5km NNW of Big Bear City, CA
  4. 1.8 5km NNW of Big Bear City, CA
  5. 2.0 14km NNE of Banning, CA
  6. 3.6 10km E of Desert Hot Springs, CA
  7. 3.0 10km E of Desert Hot Springs, CA
  8. 1.8 7km NE of Cabazon, CA
  9. 1.6 32km N of Yucca Valley, CA
  10. 1.5 12km NE of Cabazon, CA
  11. 1.9 10km NNE of Cabazon, CA
  12. 1.6 10km NNE of Banning, CA
  13. 2.8 19km SSW of Ludlow, CA
  14. 2.0 18km SSE of Big Bear Lake, CA
  15. 2.9 12km SW of Morongo Valley, 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.