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M2.6 earthquake 41 km ENE of Valley Center, California, United States

A magnitude 2.6 earthquake struck 41 km ENE of Valley Center, California, United States at 22:44 local time (06:44 UTC) on 5 Nov 2026, at a depth of 7 km, according to USGS.

revised from M2.7 · 6 reports to USGS “Did You Feel It?”

Data: USGS · updated 2026-11-06 17:04 UTC · reviewed

Magnitude
2.6micro
local magnitude (Richter) (ml)
revised from 2.7
Depth
7.5 km
Status
Reviewed
Origin time
2026-11-06 06:44:09 UTC
Local: 5 Nov 2026, 22:44:09 (America/Los Angeles)
Epicentre
33.406° N, 116.653° W

Circles show this event and others within 30 km from 7 days before to 30 days after. Lines: plate boundaries and GEM active faults. Open on the live map

Nearby places

Distance and estimated shaking at nearby places
PlaceDistanceEst. shaking
Valley CenterCalifornia, United States · pop. 9,27741 kmINot felt
La QuintaCalifornia, United States · pop. 40,47643 kmINot felt
Palm DesertCalifornia, United States · pop. 51,86943 kmINot felt
Cathedral CityCalifornia, United States · pop. 53,82645 kmINot felt
RamonaCalifornia, United States · pop. 20,29245 kmINot felt
San DiegoCalifornia, United States · pop. 1,404,45290 kmINot felt
RiversideCalifornia, United States · pop. 317,26192 kmINot felt
Chula VistaCalifornia, United States · pop. 265,75794 kmINot felt

Shaking is an estimate from the intensity prediction equation of Allen, Wald & Worden (2012), not an observation. Local ground and buildings can change it by a level or more. Likely felt out to about 7 km.

Every agency's solution

Agencies locate earthquakes with their own stations and methods, so their numbers differ. We match reports of the same event by time, distance and magnitude and show them side by side. The headline uses USGS · CI, which has been reviewed by an analyst.

AgencyMagnitudeDepthEpicentreTime offsetStatus
USGS · CIheadlineSouthern California Seismic Network via U.S. Geological Survey2.6 mlwas 2.67.5 km33.41° N, 116.65° W–Reviewed · 2 revisions

How big was it?

Usually not felt. Recorded by nearby seismometers; thousands occur worldwide every day.

It released roughly the energy of 120 kg of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step means about 32 times more energy and 10 times larger waves on a seismogram. Depth matters too: at 7 km this was a shallow earthquake, which is felt more strongly at the surface than a deeper one of the same size.

M2.6 releases about 32× the energy of M1.6, and its waves are about 10× taller on a seismogram. Energy: 120 kg of TNT vs 4 kg of TNT.

Each square is the energy of one M1.6. Energy from log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8.

Aftershocks and nearby activity

78 later earthquakes within 30 km; the largest was M1.8 5 days ago. 80 in the 7 days before. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.

Aftershocks

Mainshock M2.6

78 later earthquakes nearby. Aftershock rates typically fall off roughly as 1/time (Omori's law).

Aftershocks
Time after mainshock (hours)MagnitudeDepth (km)
0.021.17
1.660.16
2.480.27
4.020.411
4.020.413
4.371.37
5.150.37
6.800.26
9.040.66
9.380.35
10.640.712
11.210.47
17.68-0.17
19.200.913
21.040.612
27.601.811
39.290.27
43.180.27
44.150.412
44.630.74
46.070.46
46.080.16
46.640.712
47.030.56
59.030.713
60.781.16
61.890.713
61.891.014
64.130.510
71.860.66
75.380.913
78.961.213
79.870.613
79.870.713
80.050.65
80.650.514
82.520.914
83.381.06
83.460.76
85.200.813
91.090.26
93.960.411
93.981.212
97.330.94
98.480.26
98.800.613
99.250.811
102.500.27
108.540.612
108.570.18
108.580.411
108.690.812
109.940.36
110.321.413
110.370.712
110.651.317
113.300.66
116.520.710
116.610.212
118.880.35
122.220.36
128.900.813
132.310.44
134.430.26
136.021.42
136.650.910
139.021.312
139.021.212
139.440.514
139.930.16
141.800.16
143.640.412
144.801.56
144.990.617
149.890.96
151.020.54
154.250.44
154.750.37
  1. 1.825 km SSW of La Quinta, California, United States11-07 10:20
  2. 1.541 km ENE of Valley Center, California, United States11-12 07:32
  3. 1.422 km SSE of Valle Vista, California, United States11-10 21:03
  4. 1.439 km WSW of Oasis, California, United States11-11 22:45
  5. 1.316 km NNE of Ramona, California, United States11-10 21:23
  6. 1.322 km SSE of Valle Vista, California, United States11-12 01:45
  7. 1.341 km ENE of Valley Center, California, United States11-06 11:06
  8. 1.225 km SW of La Quinta, California, United States11-09 13:41
  9. 1.229 km SW of Oasis, California, United States11-10 04:42
  10. 1.222 km SSE of Valle Vista, California, United States11-12 01:45
  11. 1.141 km SW of La Quinta, California, United States11-06 06:45
  12. 1.122 km SW of La Quinta, California, United States11-08 19:31
  13. 1.025 km SW of La Quinta, California, United States11-08 20:37
  14. 1.029 km SE of Valle Vista, California, United States11-09 18:07
  15. 0.930 km WSW of Oasis, California, United States11-09 17:15
  16. 0.923 km SSE of Valle Vista, California, United States11-07 01:56
  17. 0.929 km SSE of Valle Vista, California, United States11-10 08:03
  18. 0.930 km SW of Oasis, California, United States11-11 23:23
  19. 0.929 km SE of Valle Vista, California, United States11-12 12:37
  20. 0.922 km SSE of Valle Vista, California, United States11-09 10:06
  21. 0.832 km SW of La Quinta, California, United States11-10 09:59
  22. 0.835 km ENE of Valley Center, California, United States11-09 19:56
  23. 0.822 km SSE of Valle Vista, California, United States11-10 19:25
  24. 0.826 km SW of La Quinta, California, United States11-11 15:38
  25. 0.722 km SE of Valle Vista, California, United States11-10 21:06

Did you feel it?

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Reports on SeismoAtlas

No reports yet.

USGS “Did You Feel It?” has 6 reports: add yours at USGS.

Event id ci41359103. First recorded here 6 Nov 2026, 06:47:11 UTC. Solutions: USGS · CI (usgs:ci41359103). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M2.6 earthquake 41 km ENE of Valley Center, California, United States”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/ci41359103-m2-6-earthquake-41-km-ene-of-valley-center-california-united-states, data from USGS.

JSON: /api/v1/events/ci41359103. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.