Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Yucca Valley, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Yucca Valley in the 24 hours to 8:06 am PST (16:06 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 1.8 earthquake was recorded 42 km (26 mi) north of Yucca Valley, CA, at 11:14 am PDT on 18 May 2021 (18:14 UTC), 3.3 km deep.
USGS: 39km NE of Big Bear City, CA
- When
- 11:14 am PDT on 18 May 2021 ()
- Where
- 42 km (26 mi) north of Yucca Valley, CA · earthquakes near Yucca Valley
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 3.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Bernardino County, 51 km NE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Camp Rock-Emerson-Copper Mountain fault, 2 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 Yucca Valley, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Yucca Valley, 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 13 km (8 mi) from the epicentre. In Yucca Valley, 42 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 16 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 930,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 660,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 59× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 16 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 4.3 on 2016-02-20 — about 5,400 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 30 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 32 km SSE of this epicentre
- 7.1 The 1999 Hector Mine, California Earthquake · 26 km ENE of this epicentre
- 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 43 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.8 3km NE of Yucca Valley, California · 41 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.8 13km WSW of Ludlow, CA · 30 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 34.4852, -116.5135. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Bernardino County, CA | 51 km (32 mi) | NE | earthquakes near San Bernardino County |
| Riverside County, CA | 96 km (60 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Orange County, CA | 147 km (91 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Orange County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
52 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 13km SE of Big Bear City, CA
- 2.2 8km SSE of Big Bear City, CA
- 1.8 26km N of Yucca Valley, CA
- 2.1 25km W of Ludlow, CA
- 1.5 4km ENE of Big Bear City, CA
- 1.6 4km S of Lucerne Valley, CA
- 1.6 3km SSE of Yucca Valley, CA
- 2.0 3km ESE of Yucca Valley, CA
- 1.7 28km N of Yucca Valley, CA
- 1.9 7km NW of Big Bear City, CA
- 1.6 7km NW of Big Bear City, CA
- 1.9 14km NE of Big Bear City, CA
- 1.8 13km W of Ludlow, CA
- 1.5 25km N of Yucca Valley, CA
- 3.1 3km NNW of Yucca 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
- 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.