QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3ml

Earthquake near Escondido, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Escondido in the 24 hours to 8:12 am PST (16:12 UTC). The last one was M 3.6, 51 km (32 mi) NE, at 12:31 am PDT on 19 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 165 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Escondido

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 28 km (17 mi) northeast of Escondido, CA, at 12:09 am PDT on 28 May 2022 (07:09 UTC), 14 km deep. 104 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 6km SSW of Palomar Observatory, CA

59 km (37 mi) NNE of San Diego, CA · 26 km (16 mi) NE of Escondido, CA

12:09 am PDT, May 28, 2022 · · 14 km deep · released about 88 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Diego County 32 kmOrange County 93 kmRiverside County 94 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
12:09 am PDT on 28 May 2022 ()
Where
28 km (17 mi) northeast of Escondido, CA · earthquakes near Escondido
Magnitude
M 2.3 (ml)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
104 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
San Diego County, 32 km SSE
Nearest mapped fault
Elsinore fault, under 1 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 1559 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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Escondido, 28 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: Aguanga, Valley Center, Hidden Meadows, Rainbow, Ramona.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 88 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 5.8 170,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 120,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 11× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 88 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 21,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 5.5 1km ENE of Borrego Springs, CA · 49 km E of this epicentre
  2. 5.4 20km NNW of Borrego Springs, CA · 40 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 5.3 6km SSE of Hemet, CA · 45 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 18km ESE of Anza, CA · 40 km ENE of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 10km ESE of Anza, CA · 39 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 33.3010, -116.8815. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Diego County, CA 32 km (20 mi) SSE earthquakes near San Diego County
Orange County, CA 93 km (58 mi) WNW earthquakes near Orange County
Riverside County, CA 94 km (59 mi) ENE earthquakes near Riverside 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 2km ESE of Lake Henshaw, CA
  2. 2.4 9km NNE of Julian, CA
  3. 2.5 10km S of Idyllwild, CA
  4. 2.5 10km E of Pala, CA
  5. 1.7 8km NNE of Borrego Springs, CA
  6. 1.6 8km NNE of Borrego Springs, CA
  7. 1.8 7km NNE of Borrego Springs, CA
  8. 2.4 7km NNE of Borrego Springs, CA
  9. 1.7 8km N of Borrego Springs, CA
  10. 1.8 11km SSW of Valle Vista, CA
  11. 1.8 7km N of Lake Henshaw, CA
  12. 1.6 6km SE of Valle Vista, CA
  13. 2.1 22km SSW of La Quinta, CA
  14. 2.3 13km SSW of Borrego Springs, CA
  15. 1.6 12km SSW of Idyllwild, 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.