Earthquake near Valle Vista, CA

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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Valle Vista, 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.

Likely felt in: Valle Vista 11 km, intensity II · Hemet 11 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 82 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 180,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 12× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 82 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 4.9 on 2020-04-04 — about 7,400 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 · 12 km NNW of this epicentre Apr 21, 1918
2. 6.0 The 1910 Lake Elsinore, California Earthquake · 44 km W of this epicentre May 15, 1910
3. 6.0 The 1986 North Palm Springs, California Earthquake · 48 km NE of this epicentre Jul 8, 1986
4. 5.3 6km SSE of Hemet, CA · 5 km N of this epicentre Sep 23, 1963
5. 5.3 18km ESE of Anza, CA · 45 km ESE of this epicentre Feb 25, 1980

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 33.6588, -116.9317. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 2.1 7km N of Moreno Valley, CA 04:41 UTC
2. 2.0 14km ESE of Anza, CA 02:07 UTC
3. 1.6 6km NE of San Jacinto, CA 02:50 UTC
4. 1.6 10km N of Banning, CA 18:34 UTC
5. 1.5 4km SSW of Redlands, CA 03:31 UTC
6. 2.2 13km WNW of Anza, CA 19:03 UTC
7. 1.8 10km SSW of Idyllwild, CA 18:59 UTC
8. 1.9 6km NW of Anza, CA 16:49 UTC
9. 1.5 8km NW of Anza, CA 06:35 UTC
10. 1.7 16km ESE of Anza, CA 08:24 UTC
11. 1.5 11km SSW of Morongo Valley, CA 19:37 UTC
12. 2.1 6km SE of Valle Vista, CA 23:57 UTC
13. 2.0 4km NNW of Green Acres, CA 09:07 UTC
14. 1.6 17km ESE of Anza, CA 17:55 UTC
15. 1.7 1km NE of Wildomar, CA 20:45 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 17:34 UTC. 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.