QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1ml

Earthquake near Valle Vista, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Valle Vista in the 24 hours to 5:51 am PST (13:51 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 9 km (6 mi) NW, at 8:52 pm PDT on 14 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Valle Vista

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 6 km (3 mi) east-southeast of Valle Vista, CA, at 11:50 am PDT on 25 May 2021 (18:50 UTC), 17 km deep. 4 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 6km ESE of Valle Vista, CA

14 km (9 mi) E of Hemet, CA · 148 km (92 mi) ESE of Los Angeles, CA

11:50 am PDT, May 25, 2021 · · 17 km deep · released about 49 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Valle Vista Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Diego County 78 kmRiverside County 78 kmOrange County 87 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
11:50 am PDT on 25 May 2021 ()
Where
6 km (3 mi) east-southeast of Valle Vista, CA · earthquakes near Valle Vista
Magnitude
M 2.1 (ml)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
4 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
San Diego County, 78 km S
Nearest mapped fault
San Jacinto 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 1996 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 5 km (3 mi) from the epicentre. In Valle Vista, 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: East Hemet, Idyllwild-Pine Cove, Idyllwild, Hemet, San Jacinto, Green Acres.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 49 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 310,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 220,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 19× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 49 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 38,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 13 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 The 1986 North Palm Springs, California Earthquake · 38 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 11km SSE of Big Bear Lake, California · 49 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 20km NNW of Borrego Springs, CA · 48 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 4km NNE of Desert Hot Springs, CA · 45 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 33.7203, -116.8433. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Diego County, CA 78 km (48 mi) S earthquakes near San Diego County
Riverside County, CA 78 km (48 mi) E earthquakes near Riverside County
Orange County, CA 87 km (54 mi) W earthquakes near Orange County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 18km ESE of Anza, CA
  2. 1.8 11km ESE of Anza, CA
  3. 1.7 10km S of Idyllwild, CA
  4. 1.6 7km SW of Morongo Valley, CA
  5. 2.0 14km ESE of Anza, CA
  6. 1.7 6km N of Lake Henshaw, CA
  7. 1.7 5km NW of Palomar Observatory, CA
  8. 2.3 5km S of Mentone, CA
  9. 1.9 9km NE of Aguanga, CA
  10. 1.6 13km WNW of Anza, CA
  11. 1.5 4km SSW of Redlands, CA
  12. 2.0 5km ESE of Yucaipa, CA
  13. 1.9 16km ESE of Anza, CA
  14. 2.6 3km ENE of San Jacinto, CA
  15. 2.2 8km ENE of Aguanga, 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.