Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Julian, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Julian in the 24 hours to 11:20 am PST (19:20 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 151 km (94 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 Julian
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 17 km (11 mi) east-southeast of Julian, CA, at 1:41 am PDT on 16 July 2021 (08:41 UTC), 8.6 km deep.
USGS: 17km ESE of Julian, CA
71 km (44 mi) ENE of San Diego, CA · 56 km (35 mi) ENE of Santee, CA
- When
- 1:41 am PDT on 16 July 2021 ()
- Where
- 17 km (11 mi) east-southeast of Julian, CA · earthquakes near Julian
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Diego County, 33 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- Elsinore 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 1945 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Julian, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Julian, 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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Julian, 17 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: Borrego Springs, Pine Valley, Descanso.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.4 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 290,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.6 The 1968 Borrego Mountain, California Earthquake · 34 km ENE of this epicentre
- 6.4 The 1954 San Jacinto Fault, California Earthquake · 43 km NE of this epicentre
- 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 44 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.7 Eastern San Diego County, California · 35 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.5 8km NNE of Ocotillo Wells, 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 33.0335, -116.4247. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego County, CA | 33 km (20 mi) | W | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Riverside County, CA | 87 km (54 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Imperial County, CA | 100 km (62 mi) | E | earthquakes near Imperial County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
60 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 18km NNE of Pine Valley, CA
- 1.7 21km E of Julian, CA
- 2.7 2km WNW of Lake Henshaw, CA
- 2.7 8km N of Borrego Springs, CA
- 2.7 15km SE of Anza, CA
- 1.9 27km SSW of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.7 20km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 2.2 18km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.6 6km NNW of Lakeside, CA
- 1.6 16km SSW of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.7 5km SW of Salton City, CA
- 1.6 9km SE of Julian, CA
- 1.6 19km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.5 19km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.6 14km NW of Ocotillo, 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.