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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Valle Vista, 3 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 3 km, intensity II · Hemet 10 km, intensity II · San Jacinto 10 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 25 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 620,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 440,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 39× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 25 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 25,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 15 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 10 km WNW of this epicentre Apr 21, 1918
2. 6.0 The 1910 Lake Elsinore, California Earthquake · 50 km W of this epicentre May 15, 1910
3. 6.0 The 1986 North Palm Springs, California Earthquake · 38 km NE of this epicentre Jul 8, 1986
4. 5.5 11km SSE of Big Bear Lake, California · 48 km N of this epicentre Jun 28, 1992
5. 5.3 4km NNE of Desert Hot Springs, CA · 46 km NE of this epicentre Jul 24, 1947

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 33.7342, -116.8643. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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 9km N of Cabazon, CA 13:23 UTC
2. 2.2 8km SE of Valle Vista, CA 08:38 UTC
3. 2.6 2km WNW of Aguanga, CA 05:25 UTC
4. 1.7 9km NNE of Nuevo, CA 01:42 UTC
5. 2.5 23km SSW of La Quinta, CA 05:17 UTC
6. 2.2 9km S of Idyllwild, CA 03:49 UTC
7. 1.8 7km ESE of Yucaipa, CA 18:13 UTC
8. 2.1 3km WNW of Beaumont, CA 02:10 UTC
9. 1.9 5km SW of Idyllwild, CA 06:02 UTC
10. 1.6 5km SW of Idyllwild, CA 06:02 UTC
11. 2.2 3km ESE of Loma Linda, CA 07:26 UTC
12. 1.8 17km ESE of Anza, CA 02:52 UTC
13. 1.8 5km NNW of Lake Elsinore, CA 19:19 UTC
14. 2.5 4km SE of Loma Linda, CA 05:29 UTC
15. 2.0 4km SE of Loma Linda, CA 05:29 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 15:45 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.