Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.2ml
Earthquake near Joshua Tree, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Joshua Tree in the 24 hours to 1:52 pm PST (21:52 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 17 km (11 mi) S, at 9:51 am PDT on 1 August 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 46 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Joshua Tree
This page: a magnitude 1.2 earthquake was recorded 50 km (31 mi) north of Joshua Tree, CA, at 12:11 am PDT on 3 October 2026 (07:11 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 19 km SW of Ludlow, CA
- When
- 12:11 am PDT on 3 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 50 km (31 mi) north of Joshua Tree, CA · earthquakes near Joshua Tree
- Magnitude
- M 1.2 (ml)
- Depth
- 0.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Bernardino County, 32 km NNE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Pisgah-Bullion fault, 6 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 41 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Joshua Tree, 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.2 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 8,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 6,200,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 560× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.2 about 1.7 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 4.3 on 2016-02-20 — about 51,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 14 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 45 km SSW of this epicentre
- 7.1 The 1999 Hector Mine, California Earthquake · 2 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.8 13km WSW of Ludlow, CA · 11 km N of this epicentre
- 5.5 17km WSW of Amboy, CA · 34 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.4 26km NNW of Yucca Valley, CA · 35 km SW 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 34.5825, -116.2728. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Bernardino County, CA | 32 km (20 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near San Bernardino County |
| Riverside County, CA | 98 km (61 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
5 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 0.9 4 km N of Yucca Valley, CA
- 1.0 21 km ENE of Big Bear City, CA
- 1.3 33 km SSW of Ludlow, CA
- 1.4 20 km NNE of Joshua Tree, CA
- 1.7 37 km ENE of Lucerne Valley, 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 changed | From | To | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| review status | automatic | reviewed | |
| location | 18 km SSW of Ludlow, CA | 19 km SW of Ludlow, CA | |
| longitude | -116.27 | -116.27 | |
| latitude | 34.58 | 34.58 | |
| depth | 0.4 | 0.18 | |
| location | 19 km SSW of Ludlow, CA | 18 km SSW of Ludlow, CA | |
| longitude | -116.27 | -116.27 | |
| latitude | 34.58 | 34.58 | |
| depth | 1.91 | 0.4 | |
| magnitude | 1.24 | 1.17 |
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.