QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.3ml

Earthquake near Morongo Valley, CA

Yes. A magnitude 1.3 earthquake was recorded 14 km (9 mi) west of Morongo Valley, CA, at 2:33 pm PST on 12 November 2026 (22:33 UTC), 13 km deep. No felt reports to USGS yet.

USGS: 14 km W of Morongo Valley, CA

27 km (17 mi) NE of Beaumont, CA · 141 km (88 mi) NNE of San Diego, CA

2:33 pm PST, Nov 12, 2026 · · 13 km deep · released about 2.8 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 75 kmSan Bernardino County 104 kmOrange County 105 kmSan Diego County 113 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
2:33 pm PST on 12 November 2026 ()
Where
14 km (9 mi) west of Morongo Valley, CA · earthquakes near Morongo Valley
Magnitude
M 1.3 (ml)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Riverside County, 75 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, under 1 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 4 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: Cabazon, Banning, Desert Hot Springs, Cherry Valley, Beaumont, Garnet.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 2.8 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 5,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 3,800,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 340× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.3 about 2.8 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 59,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 38 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 32 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 38 km SW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 20 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.2 3 km SE of San Bernardino, California · 49 km W of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 39 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 34.0400, -116.7297. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 75 km (47 mi) ESE earthquakes near Riverside County
San Bernardino County, CA 104 km (64 mi) NNE earthquakes near San Bernardino County
Orange County, CA 105 km (65 mi) WSW earthquakes near Orange County
San Diego County, CA 113 km (70 mi) S earthquakes near San Diego County

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

Aftershocks so far

No further 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 changedFromToWhen
review statusautomaticreviewed
longitude-116.73-116.73
latitude34.0434.04
depth13.0413.15
magnitude1.351.31
longitude-116.73-116.73
latitude34.0434.04
depth12.1713.04
magnitude1.361.35

On USGS

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