QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.6mlr

Earthquake near Banning, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Banning in the 24 hours to 6:10 am PST (14:10 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 15 km (10 mi) SSW, at 8:30 pm PDT on 14 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 87 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Banning

This page: a magnitude 3.6 earthquake was recorded 12 km (7 mi) north-northeast of Banning, CA, at 11:46 pm PDT on 25 April 2023 (06:46 UTC), 20 km deep. 268 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 12km NNE of Banning, CA

18 km (11 mi) E of Yucaipa, CA · 144 km (90 mi) E of Los Angeles, CA

11:46 pm PDT, Apr 25, 2023 · · 20 km deep · released about 3.3 tons of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 85 kmOrange County 95 kmSan Bernardino County 110 kmSan Diego 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
11:46 pm PDT on 25 April 2023 ()
Where
12 km (7 mi) north-northeast of Banning, CA · earthquakes near Banning
Magnitude
M 3.6 (mlr)
Depth
20 km below the surface
Felt
268 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking
intensity III (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Riverside County, 85 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas 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 924 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 64 km (40 mi) from the epicentre. In Banning, 12 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Banning 12 km, intensity III · Beaumont 16 km, intensity III · Yucaipa 18 km, intensity III · Morongo Valley 24 km, intensity II · Big Bear Lake 25 km, intensity II · Big Bear City 26 km, intensity II · Mentone 27 km, intensity II · San Jacinto 29 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 3.3 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 51,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,300× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.6 about 3.3 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 6.9× 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 25 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 36 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 42 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 32 km SSW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 19 km N of this epicentre
  4. 6.2 3 km SE of San Bernardino, California · 39 km W of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 49 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 34.0288, -116.8457. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 85 km (53 mi) ESE earthquakes near Riverside County
Orange County, CA 95 km (59 mi) WSW earthquakes near Orange County
San Bernardino County, CA 110 km (69 mi) NNE earthquakes near San Bernardino County
San Diego County, CA 112 km (70 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

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

  1. 2.7 5km NW of San Jacinto, CA
  2. 2.2 5km SSE of Hemet, CA
  3. 1.6 6km NW of San Jacinto, CA
  4. 1.6 12km NNE of Banning, CA
  5. 2.1 8km ESE of Yucaipa, CA
  6. 2.0 10km S of Idyllwild, CA
  7. 1.7 2km NNE of Colton, CA
  8. 1.5 3km ESE of Valle Vista, CA
  9. 1.8 10km WNW of Big Bear Lake, CA
  10. 1.6 13km NNE of Banning, CA
  11. 2.4 4km ESE of Loma Linda, CA
  12. 1.7 5km SSE of Mentone, CA
  13. 1.5 11km NNW of Anza, CA
  14. 1.9 10km NNW of Anza, CA
  15. 1.9 14km WNW of Anza, 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.