Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near Julian, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Julian in the 24 hours to 7:49 am PST (15:49 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 151 km (94 mi) ESE, at 10:27 am PST on 3 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 321 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Julian
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 21 km (13 mi) east of Julian, CA, at 12:52 am PDT on 8 September 2021 (07:52 UTC), 12 km deep.
USGS: 21km E of Julian, CA
75 km (47 mi) ENE of San Diego, CA
- When
- 12:52 am PDT on 8 September 2021 ()
- Where
- 21 km (13 mi) east of Julian, CA · earthquakes near Julian
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Diego County, 37 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- Elsinore fault, 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 1891 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Julian, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Julian, CA. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 4 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Julian, 21 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: Borrego Springs, Pine Valley.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 970,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 86× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 170,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 14 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.6 The 1968 Borrego Mountain, California Earthquake · 30 km ENE of this epicentre
- 6.6 The 1987 Superstition Hills, California Earthquake · 49 km E of this epicentre
- 6.4 The 1954 San Jacinto Fault, California Earthquake · 40 km NE of this epicentre
- 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 42 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.7 Eastern San Diego County, California · 31 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 33.0417, -116.3765. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego County, CA | 37 km (23 mi) | W | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Riverside County, CA | 84 km (52 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Imperial County, CA | 95 km (59 mi) | E | earthquakes near Imperial County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 23km ESE of Anza, CA
- 2.3 3km SE of Lake Henshaw, CA
- 1.7 12km NNE of Borrego Springs, CA
- 1.9 11km NNE of Borrego Springs, CA
- 2.3 18km SSW of Oasis, CA
- 1.5 24km WSW of Westmorland, CA
- 1.7 13km SSW of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.7 12km NNE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 2.1 14km ENE of Borrego Springs, CA
- 2.3 14km ENE of Borrego Springs, CA
- 1.9 12km ENE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.8 11km E of Julian, CA
- 1.8 27km ENE of Pine Valley, CA
- 1.6 5km SW of Salton City, CA
- 1.9 10km NNW of Borrego Springs, 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
- 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.