Small Earthquake Rumbles Near Newberry Springs, Coinciding with Regional ShakeOut Drill

NEWBERRY SPRINGS — A minor earthquake rattled the Mojave Desert north of Newberry Springs this morning, striking just 36 minutes after millions of Californians paused to practice earthquake safety during the annual Great ShakeOut drill.

The U.S. Geological Survey reported a magnitude 1.8 earthquake at approximately 10:51 a.m. Pacific Time, centered about 28 kilometers east of Barstow. The temblor occurred at a depth of 1.3 kilometers, according to preliminary data. The epicenter was less than half a mile south west the intersection of Powerline Road and Coyote Lake Road, just a few yards north of Powerline Road.

There were no reports of injuries or damage, and none were expected given the quake’s small magnitude.

The timing of the event did not go unnoticed by local emergency communications volunteers. The Newberry Friends Radio Network, NFRN, which participated in this morning’s on-air ShakeOut drill, noted the coincidence. The Silver Valley Repeater Group also joined the on air regional exercise, which at 10:15 a.m. saw participants across California practice “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” procedures. Members of the GMRS radio groups checked in on their radios as an emergency communications preparedness exercise.

The Great California ShakeOut is an annual statewide earthquake preparedness drill involving more than 10 million participants, including schools, government agencies, businesses, and community organizations. This year’s drill included a test of the ShakeAlert early warning system at various agencies, with transit systems like BART and Metrolink simulating automated train slowdowns in response to seismic alerts.

Voice notifications from the San Bernardino County Sheriff about the ShakeOut were not received until 11:35 am, indicating a significant delay in the emergency notifications system.

While a magnitude 1.8 earthquake is generally too small to be felt by most people, and a depth of 1.3 km is typically too shallow to be felt very far from the epicenter, it serves as a timely reminder of the region’s seismic activity—and the importance of the preparedness efforts practiced just minutes earlier.