Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.1ml
Earthquake near San Clemente, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in San Clemente in the 24 hours to 5:07 am PST (13:07 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 35 km (21 mi) WSW, at 1:22 pm PDT on 5 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 126 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near San Clemente
This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) south of San Clemente, CA, at 12:36 pm PST on 7 December 2025 (20:36 UTC), 13 km deep. 208 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 5 km S of San Clemente, CA
7 km (4 mi) S of San Clemente, CA · 102 km (63 mi) SE of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 12:36 pm PST on 7 December 2025 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) south of San Clemente, CA · earthquakes near San Clemente
- Magnitude
- M 3.1 (ml)
- Depth
- 13 km below the surface
- Felt
- 208 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Orange County, 36 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Newport-Inglewood-Rose Canyon 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 253 days ago
Earthquake alerts for San Clemente, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near San Clemente, CA. No account or email needed.
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 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 40 km (25 mi) from the epicentre. In San Clemente, 5 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: Dana Point 12 km, intensity III · Laguna Niguel 18 km, intensity II · Aliso Viejo 23 km, intensity II · Mission Viejo 24 km, intensity II · Laguna Hills 27 km, intensity II · Rancho Santa Margarita 28 km, intensity II · Lake Forest 30 km, intensity II · Oceanside 30 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1,300 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 250,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 11,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,900× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.4× 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 4.1 on 2024-05-01 — about 33 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 45 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1910 Lake Elsinore, California Earthquake · 40 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.3 7km W of Newport Beach, CA · 45 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.2 8km ENE of Trabuco Canyon, CA · 36 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.0 Near Lake Elsinore, California · 40 km NNE 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 33.3850, -117.6143. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange County, CA | 36 km (22 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Orange County |
| San Diego County, CA | 88 km (55 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 108 km (67 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
43 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.2 3 km SSE of Costa Mesa, CA
- 1.0 10 km S of Corona, CA
- 2.3 46 km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
- 1.5 10 km ENE of North Tustin, CA
- 1.4 5 km NNW of Lake Elsinore, CA
- 2.4 29 km SSW of Dana Point, CA
- 1.4 31 km SW of Dana Point, CA
- 1.4 10 km WSW of Corona, CA
- 1.8 28 km ESE of Avalon, CA
- 2.1 27 km ESE of Avalon, CA
- 2.0 27 km ESE of Avalon, CA
- 2.0 27 km ESE of Avalon, CA
- 3.3 26 km ESE of Avalon, CA
- 3.0 26 km ESE of Avalon, CA
- 2.5 26 km ESE of Avalon, 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.