QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Cabazon, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Cabazon in the 24 hours to 7:36 am PST (15:36 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) north-northeast of Cabazon, CA, at 8:54 am PST on 23 January 2023 (16:54 UTC), 18 km deep.

USGS: 6km NNE of Cabazon, CA

21 km (13 mi) ENE of Beaumont, CA · 133 km (83 mi) NNE of San Diego, CA

8:54 am PST, Jan 23, 2023 · · 18 km deep · released about 7.1 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 75 kmOrange County 100 kmSan Diego County 105 kmSan Bernardino County 112 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
8:54 am PST on 23 January 2023 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) north-northeast of Cabazon, CA · earthquakes near Cabazon
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Riverside County, 75 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
San Gorgonio Pass fault, 3 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 1389 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 Cabazon, 6 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: Banning, Morongo Valley, Cherry Valley, Beaumont, Desert Hot Springs, Palm Springs.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.1 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 7.1 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 23,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 37 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 39 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 30 km SW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 27 km NNW 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 · 41 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 33.9698, -116.7573. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 75 km (46 mi) ESE earthquakes near Riverside County
Orange County, CA 100 km (62 mi) WSW earthquakes near Orange County
San Diego County, CA 105 km (65 mi) S earthquakes near San Diego County
San Bernardino County, CA 112 km (70 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

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

  1. 1.6 5km S of Redlands, CA
  2. 3.1 5km SSW of Big Bear Lake, CA
  3. 1.6 7km S of Redlands, CA
  4. 1.9 8km WSW of Idyllwild, CA
  5. 1.5 3km NNW of Cabazon, CA
  6. 1.6 10km SSW of Joshua Tree, CA
  7. 2.6 5km S of Idyllwild, CA
  8. 2.0 10km SSW of Joshua Tree, CA
  9. 2.8 10km SSW of Joshua Tree, CA
  10. 1.9 10km SSW of Joshua Tree, CA
  11. 1.8 10km SE of Yucca Valley, CA
  12. 2.0 5km ENE of Banning, CA
  13. 1.8 3km SE of San Jacinto, CA
  14. 1.8 6km NW of San Jacinto, CA
  15. 1.5 6km NE of Cabazon, 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.