QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 0.8ml

Earthquake near Garnet, CA

USGS: 4 km W of Garnet, CA

14 km (9 mi) WNW of Cathedral City, CA · 130 km (81 mi) NNE of San Diego, CA

2:05 am PDT, Sep 30, 2026 · · 11 km deep · released about 0.45 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 58 kmSan Diego County 99 kmOrange County 112 kmSan Bernardino County 113 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
2:05 am PDT on 30 September 2026 ()
Where
11 km (7 mi) WSW of Garnet, CA · earthquakes near Garnet
Magnitude
M 0.8 (ml)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Riverside County, 58 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, 2 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 3 days ago

A magnitude 0.8 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) WSW of Garnet, CA, at 2:05 am PDT on 30 September 2026 (09:05 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Palm Springs, Desert Hot Springs, Desert Edge, Morongo Valley, Cathedral City, Cabazon.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 0.45 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 1.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 34,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 24,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2,100× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 0.8 about 0.45 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 4.9 on 2026-01-20 — about 1,600,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 34 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 37 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 38 km WSW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 40 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 26 km ENE of this epicentre
  5. 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 26 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 33.8975, -116.5935. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 58 km (36 mi) ESE earthquakes near Riverside County
San Diego County, CA 99 km (61 mi) S earthquakes near San Diego County
Orange County, CA 112 km (70 mi) WSW earthquakes near Orange County
San Bernardino County, CA 113 km (70 mi) NNE earthquakes near San Bernardino County
Imperial County, CA 149 km (93 mi) SE earthquakes near Imperial County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 0.2 10 km SSW of Idyllwild, CA
  2. 1.2 7 km N of Beaumont, CA
  3. 0.5 10 km SE of Winchester, CA
  4. 0.9 22 km ESE of Anza, CA
  5. 0.7 22 km ESE of Anza, CA
  6. 1.0 11 km S of Joshua Tree, CA
  7. 0.6 21 km ESE of Anza, CA
  8. 0.7 10 km SE of Winchester, CA
  9. 1.1 11 km E of Yucaipa, CA
  10. 0.6 22 km ESE of Anza, CA
  11. 2.0 22 km ESE of Anza, CA
  12. 0.4 18 km ESE of Anza, CA
  13. 0.5 8 km SW of Idyllwild, CA
  14. 0.8 13 km NNW of Cabazon, CA
  15. 0.6 7 km ESE of Valle Vista, 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
review statusautomaticreviewed
location3 km W of Idyllwild, CA4 km W of Garnet, CA
longitude-116.75-116.59
latitude33.7433.9
depth29.7511.17
magnitude0.970.78

On USGS

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