QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 1.2ml

Earthquake near Pine Valley, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Pine Valley in the 24 hours to 5:32 am PST (13:32 UTC). The last one was M 2.4, 6 km (4 mi) NW, at 2:04 am PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 17 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Pine Valley

This page: a magnitude 1.2 earthquake was recorded 12 km (8 mi) north-northwest of Pine Valley, CA, at 6:09 pm PDT on 29 October 2026 (01:09 UTC), 16 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.

USGS: 12 km NNW of Pine Valley, CA

53 km (33 mi) ENE of San Diego, CA · 38 km (24 mi) ENE of El Cajon, CA

6:09 pm PDT, Oct 29, 2026 · · 16 km deep · released about 1.7 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Diego County 21 kmRiverside County 104 kmImperial County 115 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
6:09 pm PDT on 29 October 2026 ()
Where
12 km (8 mi) north-northwest of Pine Valley, CA · earthquakes near Pine Valley
Magnitude
M 1.2 (ml)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Diego County, 21 km WNW
Nearest mapped fault
Elsinore fault, 15 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 14 days 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: Descanso, Julian, Alpine, San Diego Country Estates, Harbison Canyon, Ramona.

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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 9,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 6,500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 580× the energy of this one
  4. 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 5.2 on 2025-04-14 — about 1,200,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.5 1km ENE of Borrego Springs, CA · 42 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 21km NW of Ocotillo, CA · 40 km E of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 16 km NW of Julian, California · 33 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 26km NE of Pine Valley, CA · 25 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 32.9250, -116.5795. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Diego County, CA 21 km (13 mi) WNW earthquakes near San Diego County
Riverside County, CA 104 km (65 mi) NNE earthquakes near Riverside County
Imperial County, CA 115 km (71 mi) E earthquakes near Imperial County
Orange County, CA 139 km (86 mi) NW earthquakes near Orange County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.4 7 km WNW of Borrego Springs, CA
  2. 0.7 4 km SE of Lake Henshaw, CA
  3. 0.6 6 km WSW of Pine Valley, CA
  4. 1.3 6 km ESE of Bonita, CA
  5. 1.2 16 km WNW of Ocotillo, CA
  6. 1.3 9 km S of Lake Henshaw, CA
  7. 0.4 6 km SSW of Warner Springs, CA
  8. 1.0 12 km SSW of Borrego Springs, CA
  9. 1.2 7 km NNE of Borrego Springs, CA
  10. 1.0 16 km WNW of Ocotillo, CA
  11. 0.4 12 km SSW of Borrego Springs, CA
  12. 0.8 7 km NW of Warner Springs, CA
  13. 0.6 5 km WNW of Borrego Springs, CA
  14. 1.0 26 km NW of Ocotillo, CA
  15. 1.0 19 km WNW of Ocotillo, 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.