QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0ml

Earthquake near Big Bear City, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Big Bear City in the 24 hours to 2:18 pm PST (22:18 UTC). The last one was M 1.5, 10 km (6 mi) ESE, at 12:11 pm PST on 3 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Big Bear City

This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) southeast of Big Bear City, CA, at 2:58 am PST on 5 December 2021 (10:58 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

USGS: 13km SE of Big Bear City, CA

66 km (41 mi) ENE of Riverside, CA · 33 km (20 mi) ENE of Yucaipa, CA

2:58 am PST, Dec 5, 2021 · · 0.1 km deep · released about 35 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Big Bear City Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 85 kmSan Bernardino County 90 kmOrange County 111 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
2:58 am PST on 5 December 2021 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) southeast of Big Bear City, CA · earthquakes near Big Bear City
Magnitude
M 2.0 (ml)
Depth
0.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Riverside County, 85 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
Helendale-South Lockhart fault, 8 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 1802 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 16 km (10 mi) from the epicentre. In Big Bear City, 13 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: Big Bear City 13 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 35 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 440,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 310,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 28× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 35 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 4,700 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 37 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 28 km E of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 8 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.2 3 km SE of San Bernardino, California · 49 km WSW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 46 km ESE of this epicentre
  5. 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 44 km ESE 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 34.1843, -116.7377. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 85 km (53 mi) SE earthquakes near Riverside County
San Bernardino County, CA 90 km (56 mi) NE earthquakes near San Bernardino County
Orange County, CA 111 km (69 mi) WSW 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. 1.6 5km NE of Beaumont, CA
  2. 1.5 4km SE of Redlands, CA
  3. 1.5 9km NE of Lake Arrowhead, CA
  4. 1.5 4km ENE of Beaumont, CA
  5. 2.1 1km ENE of Yucaipa, CA
  6. 2.3 8km NE of Cabazon, CA
  7. 1.6 10km NE of Lake Arrowhead, CA
  8. 1.5 3km ESE of Loma Linda, CA
  9. 1.6 4km NE of Banning, CA
  10. 2.0 7km NE of Lake Arrowhead, CA
  11. 1.8 5km ENE of Beaumont, CA
  12. 1.7 10km WNW of Big Bear Lake, CA
  13. 1.7 10km WNW of Big Bear Lake, CA
  14. 2.6 2km S of Redlands, CA
  15. 1.5 4km SSW of Redlands, 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.