quarry blast · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.3ml
Earthquake near Vista, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Vista in the 24 hours to 8:01 am PST (16:01 UTC). The last one was M 3.6, 59 km (37 mi) ENE, at 12:31 am PDT on 19 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 165 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Vista
No: USGS classifies this as a quarry blast, not an earthquake. A magnitude 1.3 quarry blast was recorded 17 km (11 mi) north-northeast of Vista, CA, at 12:59 pm PDT on 26 October 2026 (19:59 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 7 km WSW of Pala, CA
18 km (11 mi) NNE of Vista, CA · 140 km (87 mi) ESE of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 12:59 pm PDT on 26 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 17 km (11 mi) north-northeast of Vista, CA · earthquakes near Vista
- Magnitude
- M 1.3 (ml)
- Depth
- -0.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Diego County, 48 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Elsinore fault, 13 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 17 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Vista, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Vista, CA. No account or email needed.
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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Bonsall, Rainbow, Fallbrook, Hidden Meadows, Valley Center, Camp Pendleton North.
USGS catalogues this as quarry blast, not an earthquake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 2.3 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 6,500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 4,600,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 410× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.3 about 2.3 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 4.4 on 2018-08-15 — about 53,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.0 The 1910 Lake Elsinore, California Earthquake · 48 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.3 6km SSE of Hemet, CA · 46 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.0 Near Lake Elsinore, California · 48 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.0 Near Lake Elsinore, California · 48 km NNW of this epicentre
- 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 33.3293, -117.1423. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego County, CA | 48 km (30 mi) | SE | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Orange County, CA | 70 km (44 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
40 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- -0.2 3 km WSW of Anza, CA
- 0.6 3 km WSW of Anza, CA
- 0.4 12 km S of Anza, CA
- 0.6 4 km WSW of Anza, CA
- -0.2 15 km WNW of Anza, CA
- 0.1 4 km WSW of Anza, CA
- 0.2 3 km WSW of Anza, CA
- 0.2 4 km WSW of Anza, CA
- -0.1 4 km WSW of Anza, CA
- 1.4 4 km WSW of Anza, CA
- 0.2 3 km WSW of Anza, CA
- 0.4 4 km WSW of Anza, CA
- 0.7 4 km SW of Anza, CA
- 0.1 4 km WSW of Anza, CA
- 0.6 8 km WNW 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.
Revisions
USGS refines a solution as more stations report. Every change we have seen is listed here.
| What changed | From | To | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| location | 8 km SW of Pala, CA | 7 km WSW of Pala, CA | |
| longitude | -117.15 | -117.14 | |
| latitude | 33.32 | 33.33 | |
| depth | 3.54 | -0.44 | |
| magnitude | 1.25 | 1.26 | |
| event type | earthquake | quarry blast | |
| review status | automatic | reviewed | |
| location | 2 km NNW of Camp Pendleton North, CA | 8 km SW of Pala, CA | |
| longitude | -117.33 | -117.15 | |
| latitude | 33.33 | 33.32 | |
| depth | 7.14 | 3.54 | |
| magnitude | 1.44 | 1.25 |
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.