Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Julian, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Julian in the 24 hours to 12:36 pm PST (20:36 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 23 km (14 mi) east-southeast of Julian, CA, at 6:36 am PDT on 18 March 2025 (13:36 UTC), 5.7 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 23 km ESE of Julian, CA
73 km (46 mi) ENE of San Diego, CA · 58 km (36 mi) ENE of El Cajon, CA
- When
- 6:36 am PDT on 18 March 2025 ()
- Where
- 23 km (14 mi) east-southeast of Julian, CA · earthquakes near Julian
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- 1 report · strongest reported intensity II
- Nearest
- San Diego County, 37 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- Elsinore 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 604 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Julian, CA
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 9 km (6 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Pine Valley, Descanso, Borrego Springs.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.8 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,200,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.8 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 5.2 on 2016-06-10 — about 270,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.6 The 1968 Borrego Mountain, California Earthquake · 33 km NE of this epicentre
- 6.6 The 1987 Superstition Hills, California Earthquake · 49 km E of this epicentre
- 6.4 The 1954 San Jacinto Fault, California Earthquake · 44 km NE of this epicentre
- 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 47 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.7 Eastern San Diego County, California · 35 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 32.9885, -116.3767. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego County, CA | 37 km (23 mi) | W | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Riverside County, CA | 89 km (56 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Imperial County, CA | 95 km (59 mi) | E | earthquakes near Imperial 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.
- 4.0 4 km SSE of Julian, CA
- 1.8 5 km SSE of Julian, CA
- 1.9 6 km S of Julian, CA
- 1.8 5 km SSE of Julian, CA
- 1.8 2 km N of Julian, CA
- 2.1 4 km S of Julian, CA
- 1.9 4 km S of Julian, CA
- 1.7 4 km S of Julian, CA
- 1.8 4 km S of Julian, CA
- 2.0 4 km SSE of Julian, CA
- 1.6 5 km SSE of Julian, CA
- 1.5 4 km SSE of Julian, CA
- 1.7 6 km SSE of Julian, CA
- 2.5 3 km S of Julian, CA
- 1.8 3 km SSW of Julian, 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
- 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.