QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Cabazon, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Cabazon in the 24 hours to 7:52 am PST (15:52 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 1.7 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) northeast of Cabazon, CA, at 12:59 pm PST on 6 December 2023 (20:59 UTC), 12 km deep.

USGS: 10 km NE of Cabazon, CA

25 km (16 mi) ENE of Beaumont, CA · 136 km (84 mi) NNE of San Diego, CA

12:59 pm PST, Dec 6, 2023 · · 12 km deep · released about 9.3 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Cabazon Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 71 kmOrange County 104 kmSan Diego County 107 kmSan Bernardino County 109 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
12:59 pm PST on 6 December 2023 ()
Where
10 km (6 mi) northeast of Cabazon, CA · earthquakes near Cabazon
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Riverside County, 71 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
San Gorgonio Pass fault, 4 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 1071 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 3 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Cabazon, 10 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: Morongo Valley, Banning, Desert Hot Springs, Garnet, Palm Springs, Cherry Valley.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 9.3 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 100× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 9.3 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 since 2016 was M 4.5 on 2018-05-08 — about 18,000 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 · 35 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 34 km SW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 27 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 37 km E of this epicentre
  5. 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 35 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 33.9813, -116.7120. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 71 km (44 mi) ESE earthquakes near Riverside County
Orange County, CA 104 km (65 mi) WSW earthquakes near Orange County
San Diego County, CA 107 km (66 mi) S earthquakes near San Diego County
San Bernardino County, CA 109 km (68 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

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

  1. 1.5 5 km E of Cabazon, CA
  2. 2.6 6 km NW of Big Bear City, CA
  3. 2.0 6 km NW of Big Bear City, CA
  4. 2.8 6 km WNW of Calimesa, CA
  5. 1.6 8 km SSE of Big Bear Lake, CA
  6. 1.6 4 km SSW of Beaumont, CA
  7. 1.5 5 km NE of Cabazon, CA
  8. 1.6 11 km SSW of Idyllwild, CA
  9. 2.1 12 km SSW of Idyllwild, CA
  10. 1.6 14 km SSW of Joshua Tree, CA
  11. 2.0 3 km NNW of Yucaipa, CA
  12. 1.6 17 km ENE of Thousand Palms, CA
  13. 1.9 8 km SSE of Idyllwild, CA
  14. 2.0 4 km ESE of Highland, CA
  15. 1.8 8 km NNE of Banning, 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.