QuakeIndex

quarry blast · reviewed by a seismologist

M 0.7ml

Earthquake near Winchester, CA

No: USGS classifies this as a quarry blast, not an earthquake. A magnitude 0.7 quarry blast was recorded 4 km (3 mi) SW of Winchester, CA, at 1:03 pm PDT on 12 October 2026 (20:03 UTC), less than 1 km deep. No felt reports to USGS yet.

USGS: 4 km SW of Winchester, CA

6 km (4 mi) E of Menifee, CA · 125 km (78 mi) ESE of Los Angeles, CA

1:03 pm PDT, Oct 12, 2026 · · -0.6 km deep · released about 0.29 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Orange County 61 kmSan Diego County 80 kmRiverside County 104 kmLos Angeles County 120 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
1:03 pm PDT on 12 October 2026 ()
Where
4 km (3 mi) SW of Winchester, CA · earthquakes near Winchester
Magnitude
M 0.7 (ml)
Depth
-0.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Orange County, 61 km W
Nearest mapped fault
Elsinore fault, 16 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 13 hours ago

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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Menifee, Homeland, Green Acres, Nuevo, Canyon Lake, Perris.

USGS catalogues this as quarry blast, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 0.29 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 1.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 51,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 36,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3,200× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 0.7 about 0.29 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 4.5 on 2018-05-08 — about 560,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 16 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 3 km SE of San Bernardino, California · 47 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 The 1910 Lake Elsinore, California Earthquake · 26 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 6km SSE of Hemet, CA · 17 km E of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 8km ENE of Trabuco Canyon, CA · 36 km W 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 33.6813, -117.1197. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Orange County, CA 61 km (38 mi) W earthquakes near Orange County
San Diego County, CA 80 km (50 mi) SSE earthquakes near San Diego County
Riverside County, CA 104 km (64 mi) E earthquakes near Riverside County
Los Angeles County, CA 120 km (75 mi) WNW earthquakes near Los Angeles County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 0.5 7 km SSW of Idyllwild, CA
  2. 0.8 8 km NNW of Cabazon, CA
  3. 0.9 9 km WNW of Anza, CA
  4. 0.4 8 km SW of Anza, 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

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