QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

32km E of Primo Tapia, B.C., MX

Yes. A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 32km E of Primo Tapia, B.C., MX, 82 km (51 mi) SE of San Diego, CA, at 12:07 pm PST on 18 February 2022 (20:07 UTC), 11 km deep.

82 km (51 mi) SE of San Diego, CA · 59 km (37 mi) SE of Chula Vista, CA

· 11 km deep · released about 7.3 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Diego County 89 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
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Diego County, 89 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1728 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. 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.3 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 2,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.3 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 in our catalogue was M 4.2 on 2018-07-25 — about 7,900 times the energy of this one.

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 32.2447, -116.5758. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Diego County, CA 89 km (55 mi) NNW earthquakes near San Diego County
Imperial County, CA 145 km (90 mi) NE earthquakes near Imperial County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 35km E of Ensenada, B.C., MX
  2. 2.1 22km WNW of El Sauzal, B.C., MX
  3. 2.1 43km ENE of Ensenada, B.C., MX
  4. 2.4 33km ENE of Ensenada, B.C., MX
  5. 1.5 37km NE of Ensenada, B.C., MX
  6. 2.4 19km WSW of Primo Tapia, B.C., MX
  7. 1.8 31km ENE of Ensenada, B.C., MX
  8. 2.0 14km NNW of El Sauzal, B.C., MX
  9. 1.9 11km W of El Sauzal, B.C., MX
  10. 2.5 24km WNW of El Sauzal, B.C., MX
  11. 1.7 10km W of El Sauzal, B.C., MX
  12. 1.9 9km WNW of El Sauzal, B.C., MX
  13. 2.3 8km W of El Sauzal, B.C., MX
  14. 1.8 10km W of El Sauzal, B.C., MX
  15. 1.9 8km W of El Sauzal, B.C., MX

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.