Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
40 km ENE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
Yes. A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 40 km ENE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA, at 2:10 pm PST on 1 January 2026 (22:10 UTC), 4.8 km deep.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 4.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Orange County, 80 km NNE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Diego Trough fault, 9 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 311 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Avalon, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Avalon, 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 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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 12 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 870,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 78× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 12 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.8 11km NNE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA · 33 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.5 The 1986 Oceanside, California Earthquake · 8 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 32.9773, -117.9637. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange County, CA | 80 km (49 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Orange County |
| San Diego County, CA | 111 km (69 mi) | E | earthquakes near San Diego County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
33 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 36 km SSW of San Clemente, CA
- 2.4 35 km SSW of San Clemente, CA
- 1.9 35 km SE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
- 1.7 21 km WNW of La Jolla, CA
- 1.5 31 km SW of Dana Point, CA
- 1.4 23 km WSW of Encinitas, CA
- 2.3 31 km SW of Dana Point, CA
- 2.1 32 km SW of Dana Point, CA
- 2.1 31 km SW of Dana Point, CA
- 2.5 31 km SW of Dana Point, CA
- 2.8 32 km SW of Dana Point, CA
- 3.5 31 km SW of Dana Point, CA
- 2.3 46 km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
- 2.4 29 km SSW of Dana Point, CA
- 1.4 31 km SW of Dana Point, 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.