Earthquake.now

M2.1 Earthquake near Thermal, United States — 12 September 2026

A minor earthquake of magnitude 2.1 was recorded near Thermal, United States on , with an epicentre 15 km northeast of Thermal, at a focal depth of 3.6 km. It ranked as the 1457th strongest of 7828 earthquakes recorded in the United States in the preceding 30 days.

2.1 Minor

Time (UTC): 2026-09-12 18:20:32

Time (your timezone): —

Magnitude: 2.1 (minor)

Focal depth: 3.6 km (shallow)

Epicentre: 33.7287, -116.0180

Location: 15 km NE of Thermal, CA

Country: United States

USGS link to NOAA tsunami information: Not linked

Review status: Automatic

Source: USGS event page

How strong was this earthquake?

Minor earthquakes in this range are felt by people close to the epicentre as a brief jolt or rattle, but they very rarely cause any damage.

A magnitude 2.1 earthquake radiates roughly 20 kg of TNT equivalent in seismic energy.

The USGS assigns this earthquake a significance score of 67, which is below the USGS threshold of more than 600 for its significant-earthquake list. The ranking combines magnitude with available Did You Feel It responses and PAGER alert level; it is not a direct measurement of damage.

What the magnitude scale actually measures →

When it happened locally

That is about 10:36 local solar time at the epicentre, during the morning.

This event was shallower than 67% of the 155,537 earthquakes recorded in the United States in our catalogue and stronger than 84% of them.

Where was the epicentre?

The epicentre was located at 33.7287, -116.0180 — 15 km northeast of Thermal. The closest other recorded event was a magnitude 1.2 earthquake 46 km south-southwest of here on 11 September 2026.

The nearest other settlements in our records are Aguanga (94 km west-southwest), Alpine (129 km south-southwest), Aliso Viejo (159 km west) and Adelanto (163 km west-northwest).

Why the 4 km depth matters

At 4 km this was a shallow earthquake. Shallow events release their energy close to the surface, so for a given magnitude they produce noticeably stronger shaking — and more damage — than deeper ones. Roughly three quarters of all earthquakes worldwide occur at shallow depths.

This catalogue does not ingest eyewitness responses, so it cannot confirm where this earthquake was felt. Based on magnitude alone, events this small are usually detected by instruments rather than people. Its shallow focus makes stronger surface shaking more likely than for a deeper event of the same magnitude.

Read more on how focal depth changes what you feel →

What does the tsunami information flag mean?

The USGS record does not carry a link to NOAA tsunami information. That field is not an all-clear and does not state whether a tsunami occurred. In this case, a damaging tsunami would be less likely because at M2.1 it falls below the magnitude 6.5 threshold that generally applies before a submarine earthquake displaces enough water to generate a damaging tsunami; it occurred inland rather than beneath the sea floor. For an active coastal alert, use tsunami.gov or your local warning authority.

How earthquakes generate tsunamis, and what the alert levels mean →

Aftershocks and local seismic history

1 further earthquakes have been recorded within about 150 km of the epicentre since this event was recorded, the largest of them magnitude 0.4.

20 earthquakes of magnitude 4 or above have been logged within roughly 200 km of this epicentre in our catalogue. The strongest was a magnitude 6.0 event near San Diego Country Estates on 14 April 2025. This M2.1 event released about 758,578 times less energy than that event.

8261 earthquakes have been recorded within 100 km of this epicentre in the past year, 683 of them in the past 30 days.

How long aftershock sequences last, and how large they get →

Where this event sits in the record

This earthquake is part of the September 2026 worldwide record, and of earthquakes in the United States during September 2026. Browse the full monthly archive to compare periods.

Nearest recorded earthquakes to this epicentre

Other recent earthquakes in the United States

All recorded earthquakes in the United States →

Other magnitude 2 earthquakes worldwide

All magnitude 2 earthquakes →

Questions about this earthquake

How strong was the earthquake near Thermal?

It measured magnitude 2.1 — a minor earthquake. A magnitude 2.1 earthquake radiates roughly 20 kg of TNT equivalent in seismic energy.

How deep was the earthquake near Thermal?

The focus was 4 km below the surface, which counts as shallow.

Was the Thermal earthquake felt at the surface?

At magnitude 2.1 and a focal depth of 4 km, shaking would have been concentrated near the epicentre.

When did the earthquake near Thermal happen?

12 September 2026 at 18:20 UTC.

Was there a tsunami?

No. The USGS record carries no tsunami-information link for this event.

Have there been aftershocks?

1 further earthquakes have been recorded within about 150 km of the epicentre since this event was recorded, the largest of them magnitude 0.4.

How often do earthquakes happen near Thermal?

20 earthquakes of magnitude 4 or above have been logged within roughly 200 km of this epicentre in our catalogue. The strongest was a magnitude 6.0 event near San Diego Country Estates on 14 April 2025. This M2.1 event released about 758,578 times less energy than that event.