Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near Escondido, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Escondido in the 24 hours to 8:30 am PST (16:30 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 1.7 earthquake was recorded 33 km (21 mi) northeast of Escondido, CA, at 1:00 pm PDT on 15 May 2021 (20:00 UTC), 8.1 km deep.
USGS: 2km SE of Palomar Observatory, CA
64 km (40 mi) NNE of San Diego, CA · 31 km (19 mi) ESE of Temecula, CA
- When
- 1:00 pm PDT on 15 May 2021 ()
- Where
- 33 km (21 mi) northeast of Escondido, CA · earthquakes near Escondido
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.1 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Diego County, 36 km S
- Nearest mapped fault
- Elsinore fault, under 1 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 2004 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Escondido, 33 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: Aguanga, Valley Center, Hidden Meadows, Rainbow, Anza.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 970,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 86× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 170,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 48 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 1km ENE of Borrego Springs, CA · 47 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.4 20km NNW of Borrego Springs, CA · 36 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.3 6km SSE of Hemet, CA · 41 km N of this epicentre
- 5.3 18km ESE of Anza, CA · 36 km ENE 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 33.3440, -116.8520. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego County, CA | 36 km (23 mi) | S | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Riverside County, CA | 90 km (56 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Orange County, CA | 93 km (58 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.
- 1.7 10km S of Idyllwild, CA
- 3.1 2km NW of Hemet, CA
- 1.6 11km N of Borrego Springs, CA
- 1.8 6km ESE of Palomar Observatory, CA
- 1.6 9km S of Idyllwild, CA
- 1.5 10km SSW of Idyllwild, CA
- 2.0 12km ESE of Anza, CA
- 1.9 2km NW of Lake Henshaw, CA
- 1.7 6km NNW of Lakeside, CA
- 1.9 5km SW of Idyllwild, CA
- 1.9 10km SW of Idyllwild, CA
- 1.7 15km N of Borrego Springs, CA
- 1.6 6km WSW of Aguanga, CA
- 1.7 21km ESE of Anza, CA
- 1.8 23km ESE of Anza, 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.