Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.0ml
Earthquake near Lucerne Valley, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Lucerne Valley in the 24 hours to 5:42 am PST (13:42 UTC). The last one was M 2.6, 19 km (12 mi) SSE, at 1:40 am PDT on 6 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 18 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Lucerne Valley
This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 17 km (10 mi) north-northeast of Lucerne Valley, CA, at 6:50 am PST on 27 December 2022 (14:50 UTC), 5.5 km deep. 31 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 17km NNE of Lucerne Valley, CA
85 km (53 mi) NNE of Riverside, CA · 30 km (19 mi) E of Apple Valley, CA
- When
- 6:50 am PST on 27 December 2022 ()
- Where
- 17 km (10 mi) north-northeast of Lucerne Valley, CA · earthquakes near Lucerne Valley
- Magnitude
- M 3.0 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- 31 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Nearest
- San Bernardino County, 71 km ENE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Lenwood-Lockhart fault, 8 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 834 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Lucerne Valley, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Lucerne Valley, 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 36 km (22 mi) from the epicentre. In Lucerne Valley, 17 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Lucerne Valley 17 km, intensity III · Apple Valley 29 km, intensity II · Big Bear City 36 km, intensity II · Barstow Heights 36 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 920 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 370,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 12,000× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.0 about 920 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 4.3 on 2016-02-20 — about 95 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 17 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 42 km S of this epicentre
- 5.6 7km ENE of Running Springs, CA · 40 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.5 11km SSE of Big Bear Lake, California · 47 km S of this epicentre
- 5.4 26km NNW of Yucca Valley, CA · 44 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.3 Near San Bernardino, California · 46 km SSW 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 34.5795, -116.8873. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Bernardino County, CA | 71 km (44 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near San Bernardino County |
| Riverside County, CA | 125 km (78 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Orange County, CA | 130 km (81 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Orange County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
44 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 32km NNW of Joshua Tree, CA
- 2.1 17km NE of Big Bear City, CA
- 2.8 3km NNE of Big Bear City, CA
- 2.3 4km N of Big Bear City, CA
- 1.6 4km N of Big Bear City, CA
- 2.0 6km N of Big Bear City, CA
- 3.5 28km ENE of Barstow, CA
- 1.8 10km WNW of Big Bear Lake, CA
- 1.9 9km SSW of Big Bear Lake, CA
- 2.2 9km W of Big Bear Lake, CA
- 2.6 28km NNW of Yucca Valley, CA
- 1.8 10km NW of Big Bear Lake, CA
- 1.7 12km ENE of Barstow, CA
- 1.8 28km E of Barstow, CA
- 2.0 20km ENE of Big Bear City, 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.