Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near San Diego Country Estates, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in San Diego Country Estates in the 24 hours to 1:43 pm PST (21:43 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 163 km (101 mi) ESE, at 10:27 am PST on 3 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 321 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near San Diego Country Estates
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 9 km (6 mi) east of San Diego Country Estates, CA, at 12:03 am PST on 3 January 2021 (08:03 UTC), 9.3 km deep.
USGS: 9km E of San Diego Country Estates, CA
48 km (30 mi) ENE of San Diego, CA · 34 km (21 mi) ENE of Santee, CA
- When
- 12:03 am PST on 3 January 2021 ()
- Where
- 9 km (6 mi) east of San Diego Country Estates, CA · earthquakes near San Diego Country Estates
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 9.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Diego County, 9 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- Elsinore fault, 13 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 2141 days ago
Earthquake alerts for San Diego Country Estates, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near San Diego Country Estates, CA. No account or email needed.
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 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In San Diego Country Estates, 9 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Julian, Ramona, Descanso, Alpine, Harbison Canyon, Pine Valley.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 8.1 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.1 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.5 1km ENE of Borrego Springs, CA · 40 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.4 20km NNW of Borrego Springs, CA · 48 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.0 16 km NW of Julian, California · 20 km N of this epicentre
- 5.0 26km NE of Pine Valley, CA · 35 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 33.0182, -116.6837. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego County, CA | 9 km (5 mi) | W | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Riverside County, CA | 101 km (63 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Orange County, CA | 125 km (78 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Orange County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
45 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 9km W of Palomar Observatory, CA
- 1.6 9km W of Palomar Observatory, CA
- 2.1 10km W of Palomar Observatory, CA
- 1.9 10km N of Borrego Springs, CA
- 1.6 6km NNW of Lakeside, CA
- 1.6 8km NNE of Borrego Springs, CA
- 2.3 16km ESE of Julian, CA
- 1.6 17km NNW of Borrego Springs, CA
- 2.0 16km ESE of Julian, CA
- 1.5 14km SW of Borrego Springs, CA
- 1.9 22km E of Pine Valley, CA
- 2.2 17km ESE of Julian, CA
- 1.9 10km SE of Warner Springs, CA
- 1.6 3km SE of Lake Henshaw, CA
- 2.0 4km SE of Lake Henshaw, 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.