QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Valle Vista, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Valle Vista in the 24 hours to 3:33 pm PST (23:33 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 9 km (6 mi) NW, at 8:52 pm PDT on 14 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Valle Vista

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) northwest of Valle Vista, CA, at 10:58 am PDT on 24 March 2021 (17:58 UTC), 13 km deep.

USGS: 3km NW of Valle Vista, CA

8 km (5 mi) ESE of San Jacinto, CA · 140 km (87 mi) E of Los Angeles, CA

10:58 am PDT, Mar 24, 2021 · · 13 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Valle Vista Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Orange County 80 kmSan Diego County 84 kmRiverside County 85 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
10:58 am PDT on 24 March 2021 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) northwest of Valle Vista, CA · earthquakes near Valle Vista
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Orange County, 80 km W
Nearest mapped fault
San Jacinto fault, 4 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 2059 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Valle Vista, 3 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: East Hemet, San Jacinto, Hemet, Green Acres, Winchester, Homeland.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.6 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 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 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 4.9 on 2020-04-04 — about 80,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 19 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 5 km W of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 49 km N of this epicentre
  3. 6.2 3 km SE of San Bernardino, California · 47 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 The 1910 Lake Elsinore, California Earthquake · 45 km W of this epicentre
  5. 6.0 The 1986 North Palm Springs, California Earthquake · 39 km NE 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 33.7680, -116.9210. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Orange County, CA 80 km (50 mi) W earthquakes near Orange County
San Diego County, CA 84 km (52 mi) S earthquakes near San Diego County
Riverside County, CA 85 km (53 mi) E earthquakes near Riverside County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 9km NE of Aguanga, CA
  2. 1.6 10km NE of Aguanga, CA
  3. 1.6 10km SSW of Idyllwild, CA
  4. 1.6 10km SSW of Idyllwild, CA
  5. 2.0 9km NE of Aguanga, CA
  6. 1.8 8km N of Anza, CA
  7. 1.6 1km N of Wildomar, CA
  8. 2.3 14km SE of Anza, CA
  9. 1.9 4km SE of Yucaipa, CA
  10. 1.6 6km SE of Loma Linda, CA
  11. 2.7 3km WSW of Redlands, CA
  12. 1.5 6km NNW of San Jacinto, CA
  13. 1.7 9km SSW of Idyllwild, CA
  14. 1.6 9km W of Palomar Observatory, CA
  15. 1.6 9km W of Palomar Observatory, 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.