QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Vista, CA

USGS: 7 km WSW of Pala, CA

18 km (11 mi) NNE of Vista, CA · 140 km (87 mi) ESE of Los Angeles, CA

12:08 pm PDT, Sep 29, 2026 · · 3.5 km deep · released about 5.7 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Diego County 49 kmOrange County 70 kmRiverside County 115 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
12:08 pm PDT on 29 September 2026 ()
Where
17 km (11 mi) NNE of Vista, CA · earthquakes near Vista
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
3.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Diego County, 49 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
Elsinore fault, 13 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 3 days ago

A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 17 km (11 mi) NNE of Vista, CA, at 12:08 pm PDT on 29 September 2026 (19:08 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Bonsall, Rainbow, Fallbrook, Hidden Meadows, Camp Pendleton North, Valley Center.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.7 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.7 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 4.4 on 2018-08-15 — about 22,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.0 The 1910 Lake Elsinore, California Earthquake · 47 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.3 6km SSE of Hemet, CA · 46 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 Near Lake Elsinore, California · 47 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 Near Lake Elsinore, California · 47 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.0 16 km NW of Julian, California · 44 km ESE 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 33.3312, -117.1462. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Diego County, CA 49 km (30 mi) SE earthquakes near San Diego County
Orange County, CA 70 km (43 mi) WNW earthquakes near Orange County
Riverside County, CA 115 km (71 mi) ENE earthquakes near Riverside County
Los Angeles County, CA 141 km (88 mi) NW earthquakes near Los Angeles County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

25 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 0.5 12 km W of Anza, CA
  2. 0.3 15 km N of Warner Springs, CA
  3. 0.3 15 km N of Warner Springs, CA
  4. 0.5 10 km SE of Winchester, CA
  5. 0.7 10 km SE of Winchester, CA
  6. 0.3 14 km N of Warner Springs, CA
  7. 1.2 11 km NW of Aguanga, CA
  8. 0.8 9 km WNW of Anza, CA
  9. 0.5 9 km WNW of Anza, CA
  10. 0.5 9 km WNW of Anza, CA
  11. 0.6 9 km WNW of Anza, CA
  12. 2.0 9 km WNW of Anza, CA
  13. 0.3 9 km WNW of Anza, CA
  14. 0.4 12 km W of Anza, CA
  15. 1.2 14 km ENE of Temecula, 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.

Revisions

USGS refines a solution as more stations report. Every change we have seen is listed here.

What changedFromToWhen
longitude-117.15-117.15
latitude33.3433.33
depth3.943.46
magnitude1.571.52

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.