quarry blast · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.3ml
Earthquake near Rancho San Diego, CA
USGS: 5 km NE of Rancho San Diego, CA
23 km (14 mi) E of San Diego, CA · 7 km (4 mi) ESE of El Cajon, CA
- When
- 2:30 pm PDT on 29 September 2026 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) NE of Rancho San Diego, CA · earthquakes near Rancho San Diego
- Magnitude
- M 1.3 (ml)
- Depth
- -0.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Diego County, 30 km NNE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3 days ago
A magnitude 1.3 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) NE of Rancho San Diego, CA, at 2:30 pm PDT on 29 September 2026 (21:30 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Granite Hills, Crest, Bostonia, El Cajon, Jamul, Casa de Oro-Mount Helix.
USGS catalogues this as quarry blast, not an earthquake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 3 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.3 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 5,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 3,600,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 320× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.3 about 3 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 660,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.
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 32.7757, -116.8942. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego County, CA | 30 km (18 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Orange County, CA | 129 km (80 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Riverside County, CA | 135 km (84 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
2 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
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 changed | From | To | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| event type | earthquake | quarry blast | |
| review status | automatic | reviewed | |
| location | 3 km ENE of Rancho San Diego, CA | 5 km NE of Rancho San Diego, CA | |
| longitude | -116.9 | -116.89 | |
| latitude | 32.76 | 32.78 | |
| depth | 4.86 | -0.35 | |
| magnitude | 1.45 | 1.33 | |
| longitude | -116.9 | -116.9 | |
| latitude | 32.76 | 32.76 | |
| depth | 5.34 | 4.86 | |
| magnitude | 1.6 | 1.45 |
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.