QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Morongo Valley, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Morongo Valley in the 24 hours to 5:58 am PST (13:58 UTC). The last one was M 3.6, 72 km (44 mi) S, at 12:31 am PDT on 19 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 165 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Morongo Valley

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 15 km (9 mi) west of Morongo Valley, CA, at 8:16 pm PDT on 14 March 2023 (03:16 UTC), 13 km deep.

USGS: 15km W of Morongo Valley, CA

28 km (17 mi) NE of Beaumont, CA · 142 km (88 mi) NNE of San Diego, CA

8:16 pm PDT, Mar 14, 2023 · · 13 km deep · released about 6.8 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Morongo Valley Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 77 kmSan Bernardino County 103 kmOrange County 105 kmSan Diego County 114 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
8:16 pm PDT on 14 March 2023 ()
Where
15 km (9 mi) west of Morongo Valley, CA · earthquakes near Morongo Valley
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Riverside County, 77 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas 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 1338 days ago

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 Morongo Valley, 15 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: Cabazon, Banning, Cherry Valley, Desert Hot Springs, Big Bear City, Beaumont.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.8 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.8 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 24,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 38 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 32 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 39 km SW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 19 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.2 3 km SE of San Bernardino, California · 48 km W of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 40 km ESE 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 34.0508, -116.7387. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 77 km (48 mi) ESE earthquakes near Riverside County
San Bernardino County, CA 103 km (64 mi) NNE earthquakes near San Bernardino County
Orange County, CA 105 km (65 mi) WSW earthquakes near Orange County
San Diego County, CA 114 km (71 mi) S earthquakes near San Diego County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

60 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 2.3 8km NNE of Banning, CA
  2. 1.7 2km E of San Jacinto, CA
  3. 1.8 5km N of Yucca Valley, CA
  4. 1.6 9km NNW of Anza, CA
  5. 2.6 28km NNW of Yucca Valley, CA
  6. 1.9 10km NNW of Anza, CA
  7. 2.2 11km WNW of Garnet, CA
  8. 2.0 4km N of Cabazon, CA
  9. 1.9 12km NNE of Banning, CA
  10. 1.9 10km SSW of Idyllwild, CA
  11. 1.8 10km NW of Big Bear Lake, CA
  12. 2.8 8km NE of Cabazon, CA
  13. 1.8 9km NE of Cabazon, CA
  14. 1.5 5km SW of Idyllwild, CA
  15. 2.1 3km SE of Loma Linda, 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.