QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2ml

Earthquake near Cabazon, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Cabazon in the 24 hours to 6:57 am PST (14:57 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 20 km (13 mi) SW, at 8:30 pm PDT on 14 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 87 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Cabazon

This page: a magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded in Cabazon, CA, at 5:53 pm PDT on 16 August 2022 (00:53 UTC), 14 km deep. 48 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 1km NE of Cabazon, CA

17 km (11 mi) ENE of Beaumont, CA · 128 km (80 mi) NNE of San Diego, CA

5:53 pm PDT, Aug 16, 2022 · · 14 km deep · released about 1,800 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Cabazon Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 75 kmOrange County 96 kmSan Diego County 100 kmSan Bernardino County 117 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
5:53 pm PDT on 16 August 2022 ()
Where
in Cabazon, CA · earthquakes near Cabazon
Magnitude
M 3.2 (ml)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
48 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Riverside County, 75 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
San Gorgonio Pass 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 1477 days ago

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 44 km (27 mi) from the epicentre. 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: Banning 9 km, intensity III · Beaumont 18 km, intensity II · Idyllwild 21 km, intensity II · Valle Vista 23 km, intensity II · Morongo Valley 23 km, intensity II · San Jacinto 23 km, intensity II · Palm Springs 24 km, intensity II · Desert Hot Springs 26 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,800 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 180,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 8,200× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,800× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,800 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.9× more

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 89 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 35 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 44 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 26 km SW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 31 km N of this epicentre
  4. 6.2 3 km SE of San Bernardino, California · 48 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 43 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 33.9263, -116.7775. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 75 km (47 mi) ESE earthquakes near Riverside County
Orange County, CA 96 km (60 mi) WSW earthquakes near Orange County
San Diego County, CA 100 km (62 mi) S earthquakes near San Diego County
San Bernardino County, CA 117 km (73 mi) NNE earthquakes near San Bernardino County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.0 4km W of Banning, CA
  2. 2.1 8km NE of Cabazon, CA
  3. 1.6 8km SSE of Big Bear City, CA
  4. 2.5 9km ENE of Yucaipa, CA
  5. 1.9 2km SE of Loma Linda, CA
  6. 1.6 8km SE of Valle Vista, CA
  7. 1.8 12km SW of Big Bear Lake, CA
  8. 2.2 2km SE of Loma Linda, CA
  9. 1.7 1km E of Loma Linda, CA
  10. 1.6 10km S of Idyllwild, CA
  11. 2.0 4km W of Banning, CA
  12. 1.9 4km S of Mentone, CA
  13. 2.3 8km NE of Aguanga, CA
  14. 1.8 10km NNW of Big Bear City, CA
  15. 1.6 9km NE of Aguanga, 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.