Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Julian, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Julian in the 24 hours to 4:07 am PST (12:07 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 22 km (14 mi) east-southeast of Julian, CA, at 11:36 am PDT on 25 September 2026 (18:36 UTC), 9.6 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.
USGS: 22 km ESE of Julian, CA
75 km (47 mi) ENE of San Diego, CA
- When
- 11:36 am PDT on 25 September 2026 ()
- Where
- 22 km (14 mi) east-southeast of Julian, CA · earthquakes near Julian
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 9.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Diego County, 38 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- Elsinore fault, 2 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 48 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 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Julian, 22 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: Borrego Springs, Pine Valley.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 8.7 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 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.7 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 230,000 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 · 30 km ENE 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 · 40 km NE of this epicentre
- 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 43 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.7 Eastern San Diego County, California · 32 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 33.0318, -116.3730. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego County, CA | 38 km (23 mi) | W | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Riverside County, CA | 85 km (53 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
50 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 0.7 24 km NE of Pine Valley, CA
- 1.1 11 km SSW of Borrego Springs, CA
- 0.7 22 km ESE of Anza, CA
- 1.0 22 km ESE of Anza, CA
- 0.9 11 km SSE of Warner Springs, CA
- 1.7 25 km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.1 10 km NNW of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.1 22 km ESE of Anza, CA
- 0.7 22 km ESE of Anza, CA
- 1.6 16 km ESE of Julian, CA
- 1.1 23 km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.3 23 km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 0.3 12 km NE of Julian, CA
- 0.9 24 km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.1 24 km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, 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.