Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Beaumont, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Beaumont in the 24 hours to 7:07 am PST (15:07 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 14 km (8 mi) S, at 8:30 pm PDT on 14 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 87 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Beaumont
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) west-northwest of Beaumont, CA, at 12:47 pm PST on 20 December 2021 (20:47 UTC), 15 km deep.
USGS: 5km WNW of Beaumont, CA
10 km (6 mi) S of Yucaipa, CA · 128 km (80 mi) E of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 12:47 pm PST on 20 December 2021 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) west-northwest of Beaumont, CA · earthquakes near Beaumont
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 15 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Orange County, 76 km WSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Beaumont Plain 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 1787 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Beaumont, CA
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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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Beaumont, 5 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: Cherry Valley, Calimesa, Yucaipa, Banning, Lakeview, Mentone.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 17 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 900,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 640,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 57× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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 4.5 on 2018-05-08 — about 9,800 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 22 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 21 km SSE of this epicentre
- 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 34 km NNE of this epicentre
- 6.2 3 km SE of San Bernardino, California · 27 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1910 Lake Elsinore, California Earthquake · 44 km SW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1986 North Palm Springs, California Earthquake · 39 km E 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 33.9472, -117.0238. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange County, CA | 76 km (47 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Riverside County, CA | 97 km (61 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| San Diego County, CA | 105 km (65 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 117 km (73 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 127 km (79 mi) | NE | earthquakes near San Bernardino 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.
- 1.5 13km WNW of Anza, CA
- 1.7 5km N of Cabazon, CA
- 3.6 13km NE of Trabuco Canyon, CA
- 1.7 4km NNW of Fontana, CA
- 2.0 10km NNW of Idyllwild, CA
- 2.1 2km S of Devore, CA
- 1.9 2km S of Devore, CA
- 2.6 4km NNW of Fontana, CA
- 2.0 4km NW of Fontana, CA
- 1.6 9km SSW of Idyllwild, CA
- 2.4 5km SSW of Redlands, CA
- 2.0 4km SE of Home Gardens, CA
- 2.5 10km NW of San Jacinto, CA
- 1.9 13km NW of Big Bear Lake, CA
- 1.7 7km SSE of Home Gardens, 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.