Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.9ml
Earthquake near Escondido, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Escondido in the 24 hours to 12:49 pm PST (20:49 UTC). The last one was M 3.6, 51 km (32 mi) NE, at 12:31 am PDT on 19 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 165 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Escondido
This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 50 km (31 mi) east-northeast of Escondido, CA, at 2:36 pm PDT on 20 March 2021 (21:36 UTC), 15 km deep.
USGS: 10km SE of Warner Springs, CA
69 km (43 mi) NE of San Diego, CA · 48 km (30 mi) E of Escondido, CA
- When
- 2:36 pm PDT on 20 March 2021 ()
- Where
- 50 km (31 mi) east-northeast of Escondido, CA · earthquakes near Escondido
- Magnitude
- M 1.9 (ml)
- Depth
- 15 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Diego County, 29 km SW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Elsinore fault, 3 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 2061 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Escondido, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Escondido, 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 1 km (1 mi) from the epicentre. In Escondido, 50 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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, Borrego Springs.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 23 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 660,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 470,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 42× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.9 about 23 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 5.2 on 2016-06-10 — about 80,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.6 The 1968 Borrego Mountain, California Earthquake · 43 km E of this epicentre
- 6.4 The 1954 San Jacinto Fault, California Earthquake · 46 km ENE of this epicentre
- 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 36 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.7 Eastern San Diego County, California · 43 km E of this epicentre
- 5.5 8km NNE of Ocotillo Wells, CA · 44 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 33.2130, -116.5665. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego County, CA | 29 km (18 mi) | SW | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Riverside County, CA | 78 km (48 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Imperial County, CA | 114 km (71 mi) | E | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| Orange County, CA | 124 km (77 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Orange County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.2 11km NNE of Borrego Springs, CA
- 1.5 9km ENE of Borrego Springs, CA
- 1.8 6km NNE of Lake Henshaw, CA
- 1.8 9km ENE of Anza, CA
- 1.8 10km NW of Anza, CA
- 1.8 20km E of Anza, CA
- 1.7 8km E of Borrego Springs, CA
- 1.6 11km NNW of Anza, CA
- 2.0 10km S of Borrego Springs, CA
- 1.8 10km NNW of Alpine, CA
- 1.9 18km ESE of Anza, CA
- 1.6 18km ESE of Anza, CA
- 1.6 9km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 1.9 10km SSW of San Diego Country Estates, CA
- 3.5 10km S of Borrego Springs, 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.