Earthquake near Escondido, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Escondido in the 24 hours to 7:18 am PST (15:18 UTC). The last one was M 3.6, 51 km (32 mi) NE, at 12:31 am PDT on 19 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 165 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Escondido

This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) southeast of Escondido, CA, at 7:43 am PST on 17 January 2025 (15:43 UTC), 15 km deep. 3 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 5 km SW of San Pasqual, CA

10 km (6 mi) SE of Escondido, CA · 31 km (19 mi) NNE of San Diego, CA

7:43 am PST, Jan 17, 2025 · 2025-01-17 15:43 UTC · 15 km deep · released about 22 lb of TNT

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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: 7:43 am PST on 17 January 2025 (2025-01-17 15:43 UTC)
Where: 10 km (6 mi) southeast of Escondido, CA · earthquakes near Escondido
Magnitude: M 1.9 (ml)
Depth: 15 km below the surface
Felt: 3 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest: San Diego County, 21 km ESE
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 664 days ago · we first saw it 664 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 Escondido, 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: Poway, Ramona, Valley Center, San Marcos, Fairbanks Ranch, Rancho Santa Fe.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 22 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 680,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 480,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 43× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 1.9 about 22 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 4.4 on 2018-08-15 — about 5,600 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

5.0 16 km NW of Julian, California · 31 km ENE of this epicentre Jan 1, 1920

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

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Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
San Diego County, CA	21 km (13 mi)	ESE	earthquakes near San Diego County
Orange County, CA	99 km (62 mi)	NW	earthquakes near Orange County
Riverside County, CA	118 km (73 mi)	NE	earthquakes near Riverside County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 15:18 UTC. QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.