QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Corona, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Corona in the 24 hours to 6:53 am PST (14:53 UTC). The last one was M 1.6, 9 km (6 mi) SE, at 1:57 pm PST on 6 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Corona

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) southwest of Corona, CA, at 7:34 am PST on 17 January 2021 (15:34 UTC), 6.8 km deep.

USGS: 10km SW of Corona, CA

10 km (6 mi) SW of Corona, CA · 75 km (46 mi) ESE of Los Angeles, CA

7:34 am PST, Jan 17, 2021 · · 6.8 km deep · released about 5.7 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Corona Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Orange County 19 kmLos Angeles County 72 kmSan Diego County 118 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
7:34 am PST on 17 January 2021 ()
Where
11 km (7 mi) southwest of Corona, CA · earthquakes near Corona
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
6.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Orange County, 19 km SW
Nearest mapped fault
Elsinore fault, 5 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 2125 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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Corona, 11 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: El Cerrito Corona, Home Gardens, North Tustin, Villa Park, Trabuco Canyon, Norco.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.7 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.7 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 2020-09-19 — about 34,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 38 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 3 km SE of San Bernardino, California · 48 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 The 1910 Lake Elsinore, California Earthquake · 25 km ESE of this epicentre
  4. 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 49 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 The 1990 Upland, California Earthquake · 38 km N 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 33.8035, -117.6460. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Orange County, CA 19 km (12 mi) SW earthquakes near Orange County
Los Angeles County, CA 72 km (45 mi) NW earthquakes near Los Angeles County
San Diego County, CA 118 km (74 mi) SE earthquakes near San Diego County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 1km N of Wildomar, CA
  2. 1.9 4km SE of Home Gardens, CA
  3. 1.6 6km SE of Loma Linda, CA
  4. 2.4 2km E of Commerce, CA
  5. 1.8 11km E of Yorba Linda, CA
  6. 2.7 3km WSW of Redlands, CA
  7. 2.0 1km NNE of Laguna Beach, CA
  8. 1.7 4km SE of Home Gardens, CA
  9. 2.0 2km N of Muscoy, CA
  10. 2.1 2km N of Muscoy, CA
  11. 1.8 4km SE of Home Gardens, CA
  12. 1.6 5km SSE of Home Gardens, CA
  13. 1.5 3km NW of Fontana, CA
  14. 2.0 6km SSW of Redlands, CA
  15. 1.8 4km SE of Dana Point, 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.