Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.0ml
Earthquake near Morongo Valley, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Morongo Valley in the 24 hours to 6:13 am PST (14:13 UTC). The last one was M 3.6, 72 km (44 mi) S, at 12:31 am PDT on 19 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 165 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Morongo Valley
This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) southwest of Morongo Valley, CA, at 1:08 pm PDT on 9 August 2025 (20:08 UTC), 6.6 km deep. 23 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 8 km SW of Morongo Valley, CA
24 km (15 mi) NW of Cathedral City, CA · 139 km (86 mi) NNE of San Diego, CA
- When
- 1:08 pm PDT on 9 August 2025 ()
- Where
- 8 km (5 mi) southwest of Morongo Valley, CA · earthquakes near Morongo Valley
- Magnitude
- M 3.0 (ml)
- Depth
- 6.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- 23 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Riverside County, 66 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas 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 383 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Morongo Valley, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Morongo 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 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 39 km (24 mi) from the epicentre. In Morongo Valley, 8 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: Morongo Valley 8 km, intensity III · Desert Hot Springs 13 km, intensity III · Palm Springs 20 km, intensity II · Banning 23 km, intensity II · Yucca Valley 24 km, intensity II · Cathedral City 29 km, intensity II · Idyllwild 29 km, intensity II · Thousand Palms 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 1,100 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 300,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 13,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 9,400× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.0 about 1,100 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 4.5 on 2018-05-08 — about 140 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 37 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 30 km NE of this epicentre
- 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 40 km SW of this epicentre
- 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 29 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 30 km E of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 29 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 33.9920, -116.6435. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County, CA | 66 km (41 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 105 km (65 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near San Bernardino County |
| San Diego County, CA | 108 km (67 mi) | S | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Orange County, CA | 110 km (69 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Imperial County, CA | 160 km (99 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.5 7 km N of Big Bear City, CA
- 1.9 7 km N of Big Bear City, CA
- 3.5 7 km N of Big Bear City, CA
- 1.7 7 km N of Big Bear City, CA
- 2.5 10 km NNE of Cabazon, CA
- 3.3 7 km N of Big Bear City, CA
- 1.8 7 km N of Big Bear City, CA
- 3.3 7 km N of Big Bear City, CA
- 1.7 19 km ENE of Thousand Palms, CA
- 1.6 8 km SSE of Redlands, CA
- 1.8 7 km WNW of Anza, CA
- 2.0 7 km WNW of Anza, CA
- 1.7 9 km NNW of Big Bear City, CA
- 1.8 22 km N of Yucca Valley, CA
- 1.6 6 km N of Beaumont, 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.