Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Pine Valley, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Pine Valley in the 24 hours to 10:46 am PST (18:46 UTC). The last one was M 2.4, 6 km (4 mi) NW, at 2:04 am PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 17 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Pine Valley
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) west of Pine Valley, CA, at 4:21 pm PST on 16 January 2026 (00:21 UTC), 17 km deep.
USGS: 11 km W of Pine Valley, CA
46 km (29 mi) E of San Diego, CA · 30 km (18 mi) E of El Cajon, CA
- When
- 4:21 pm PST on 16 January 2026 ()
- Where
- 11 km (7 mi) west of Pine Valley, CA · earthquakes near Pine Valley
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 17 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Diego County, 27 km NNW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 296 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Pine Valley, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Pine Valley, 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Pine Valley, 11 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: Descanso, Alpine, Harbison Canyon, Crest, Jamul, Granite Hills.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.9 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,800,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 160× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.9 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 2025-04-14 — about 330,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.2 21km NW of Ocotillo, CA · 47 km E of this epicentre
- 5.0 16 km NW of Julian, California · 44 km N of this epicentre
- 5.0 26km NE of Pine Valley, CA · 35 km ENE 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 32.8067, -116.6425. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego County, CA | 27 km (17 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Riverside County, CA | 119 km (74 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Orange County, CA | 143 km (89 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Orange County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
38 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.2 25 km ESE of Julian, CA
- 1.6 19 km NW of Ocotillo, CA
- 2.6 20 km SW of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 2.5 3 km WSW of Lake Henshaw, CA
- 1.8 18 km ESE of Julian, CA
- 2.1 8 km NE of Julian, CA
- 2.0 26 km ENE of Pine Valley, CA
- 1.6 14 km ENE of Julian, CA
- 2.1 13 km ENE of Julian, CA
- 1.6 17 km E of Julian, CA
- 1.9 14 km NE of Julian, CA
- 1.8 17 km NNE of Pine Valley, CA
- 1.7 2 km W of Lake Henshaw, CA
- 1.9 9 km NE of Julian, CA
- 3.0 13 km N of Tecate, B.C., MX
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.