QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.5mlr

Earthquake near Julian, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Julian in the 24 hours to 11:43 am PST (19:43 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 151 km (94 mi) ESE, at 10:27 am PST on 3 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 321 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Julian

This page: a magnitude 3.5 earthquake was recorded 23 km (15 mi) east of Julian, CA, at 3:45 pm PDT on 7 October 2022 (22:45 UTC), 12 km deep. 55 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 23km E of Julian, CA

77 km (48 mi) ENE of San Diego, CA

3:45 pm PDT, Oct 7, 2022 · · 12 km deep · released about 2.4 tons of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Diego County 39 kmRiverside County 83 kmImperial County 93 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
3:45 pm PDT on 7 October 2022 ()
Where
23 km (15 mi) east of Julian, CA · earthquakes near Julian
Magnitude
M 3.5 (mlr)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
55 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking
intensity III (ShakeMap)
Nearest
San Diego County, 39 km W
Nearest mapped fault
Elsinore fault, 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 1433 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 61 km (38 mi) from the epicentre. In Julian, 23 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.

Likely felt in: Julian 23 km, intensity II · Borrego Springs 24 km, intensity II · Pine Valley 29 km, intensity II · San Diego Country Estates 40 km, intensity II · Alpine 45 km, intensity II · Salton City 47 km, intensity II · Ramona 48 km, intensity II · Campo 50 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 2.4 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 70,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 3,100× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,200× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.5 about 2.4 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 5.1× 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 5.2 on 2016-06-10 — about 380 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.6 The 1968 Borrego Mountain, California Earthquake · 28 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 6.6 The 1987 Superstition Hills, California Earthquake · 47 km E of this epicentre
  3. 6.4 The 1954 San Jacinto Fault, California Earthquake · 38 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 41 km NNE of this epicentre
  5. 5.7 Eastern San Diego County, California · 30 km NE 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 33.0413, -116.3547. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Diego County, CA 39 km (24 mi) W earthquakes near San Diego County
Riverside County, CA 83 km (52 mi) NNE earthquakes near Riverside County
Imperial County, CA 93 km (58 mi) E earthquakes near Imperial County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 3km SSE of Lake Henshaw, CA
  2. 1.6 11km E of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  3. 2.6 11km E of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  4. 1.7 11km ENE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  5. 2.0 16km E of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  6. 1.8 12km NNW of Ocotillo, CA
  7. 2.0 24km WSW of Westmorland, CA
  8. 1.7 9km SE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  9. 1.8 9km SE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  10. 1.5 12km WSW of Salton City, CA
  11. 1.6 25km ENE of Pine Valley, CA
  12. 1.8 25km ENE of Pine Valley, CA
  13. 2.6 20km N of Ocotillo, CA
  14. 1.5 17km N of Ocotillo, CA
  15. 1.6 6km ENE of Borrego Springs, 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.