QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.2ml

Earthquake near Running Springs, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Running Springs in the 24 hours to 4:46 pm PST (00:46 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 13 km (8 mi) WSW, at 3:40 pm PDT on 22 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 14 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Running Springs

This page: a magnitude 2.2 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) northeast of Running Springs, CA, at 11:58 pm PST on 6 January 2021 (07:58 UTC), 1.6 km deep. 6 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 6km NE of Running Springs, CA

17 km (11 mi) NNE of Highland, CA · 126 km (79 mi) ENE of Los Angeles, CA

11:58 pm PST, Jan 6, 2021 · · 1.6 km deep · released about 60 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Orange County 91 kmSan Bernardino County 106 kmLos Angeles County 110 kmRiverside County 113 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
11:58 pm PST on 6 January 2021 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) northeast of Running Springs, CA · earthquakes near Running Springs
Magnitude
M 2.2 (ml)
Depth
1.6 km below the surface
Felt
6 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Orange County, 91 km SW
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, 14 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 2113 days ago

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 18 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Running Springs, 6 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.

Likely felt in: Lake Arrowhead 12 km, intensity II · Big Bear Lake 14 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 60 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 250,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 180,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 16× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.2 about 60 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 4.5 on 2018-05-08 — about 2,700 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 17 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 22 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 3 km SE of San Bernardino, California · 25 km SW of this epicentre
  3. 5.6 7km ENE of Running Springs, CA · 2 km ESE of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 11km SSE of Big Bear Lake, California · 22 km ESE of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 Near San Bernardino, California · 6 km SSW 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 34.2460, -117.0640. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Orange County, CA 91 km (57 mi) SW earthquakes near Orange County
San Bernardino County, CA 106 km (66 mi) NE earthquakes near San Bernardino County
Los Angeles County, CA 110 km (69 mi) W earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Riverside County, CA 113 km (71 mi) ESE earthquakes near Riverside County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 5km NE of Moreno Valley, CA
  2. 1.6 3km SSE of Muscoy, CA
  3. 1.6 5km E of Calimesa, CA
  4. 1.5 3km SSW of Calimesa, CA
  5. 1.8 1km WNW of Fontana, CA
  6. 1.7 10km NNE of Running Springs, CA
  7. 2.9 7km NNE of Rancho Cucamonga, CA
  8. 1.5 9km N of Big Bear Lake, CA
  9. 2.9 9km N of Big Bear Lake, CA
  10. 1.5 9km N of Big Bear Lake, CA
  11. 1.7 9km N of Big Bear Lake, CA
  12. 1.5 10km NNE of Banning, CA
  13. 1.9 10km NNE of Running Springs, CA
  14. 1.8 17km SE of Big Bear City, CA
  15. 2.1 13km NNE of Cabazon, 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.