Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Cabazon, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Cabazon in the 24 hours to 7:33 am PST (15:33 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 20 km (13 mi) SW, at 8:30 pm PDT on 14 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 87 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Cabazon
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) northwest of Cabazon, CA, at 9:21 am PDT on 18 May 2026 (16:21 UTC), 7.4 km deep.
USGS: 3 km NW of Cabazon, CA
14 km (9 mi) ENE of Beaumont, CA · 148 km (92 mi) E of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 9:21 am PDT on 18 May 2026 ()
- Where
- 3 km (2 mi) northwest of Cabazon, CA · earthquakes near Cabazon
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Riverside County, 78 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, 3 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 178 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Cabazon, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Cabazon, 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Cabazon, 3 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). 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.
Likely felt in: Banning 6 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 9 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 9 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 18,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 34 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 46 km NE of this epicentre
- 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 24 km SW of this epicentre
- 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 30 km N of this epicentre
- 6.2 3 km SE of San Bernardino, California · 44 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 46 km E 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 33.9343, -116.8138. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County, CA | 78 km (49 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Orange County, CA | 94 km (58 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Orange County |
| San Diego County, CA | 101 km (63 mi) | S | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 118 km (73 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near San Bernardino 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.
- 1.6 6 km SSE of Big Bear Lake, CA
- 1.6 10 km SW of Idyllwild, CA
- 1.8 10 km NNW of Banning, CA
- 2.2 6 km NNW of Beaumont, CA
- 1.7 2 km NW of Banning, CA
- 1.6 4 km SSW of Idyllwild, CA
- 1.8 8 km SW of Idyllwild, CA
- 1.7 8 km WNW of Big Bear Lake, CA
- 1.5 5 km SE of Big Bear Lake, CA
- 1.8 11 km NNW of Anza, CA
- 1.9 15 km S of Joshua Tree, CA
- 2.0 3 km ENE of Running Springs, CA
- 1.5 3 km ENE of Running Springs, CA
- 2.2 6 km SSE of Big Bear Lake, CA
- 1.5 10 km WSW of Morongo 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.
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.