Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 0.3ml
Earthquake near La Quinta, CA
USGS: 18 km SSW of La Quinta, CA
24 km (15 mi) SSW of Palm Desert, CA · 103 km (64 mi) NE of San Diego, CA
- When
- 10:06 am PDT on 28 September 2026 ()
- Where
- 18 km (11 mi) SSW of La Quinta, CA · earthquakes near La Quinta
- Magnitude
- M 0.3 (ml)
- Depth
- 13 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Riverside County, 45 km ENE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Jacinto fault, 4 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 4 days ago
A magnitude 0.3 earthquake was recorded 18 km (11 mi) SSW of La Quinta, CA, at 10:06 am PDT on 28 September 2026 (17:06 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Vista Santa Rosa, Palm Desert, Indian Wells, Rancho Mirage, Anza, Bermuda Dunes.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 0.098 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 1.3 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 150,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 110,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 9,800× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 0.3 about 0.098 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 2016-06-10 — about 19,000,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.6 The 1968 Borrego Mountain, California Earthquake · 48 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.4 The 1954 San Jacinto Fault, California Earthquake · 40 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 49 km N of this epicentre
- 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 21 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.7 Eastern San Diego County, California · 47 km SE 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 33.5247, -116.4177. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County, CA | 45 km (28 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| San Diego County, CA | 65 km (40 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Imperial County, CA | 112 km (70 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 9 km WNW of Anza, CA
- 0.3 9 km WNW of Anza, CA
- 0.3 12 km NE of Julian, CA
- 0.5 8 km E of Anza, CA
- 0.4 12 km W of Anza, CA
- 0.8 15 km SSW of Borrego Springs, CA
- 0.8 3 km WSW of Borrego Springs, CA
- 0.2 7 km WSW of Anza, CA
- 0.9 8 km ESE of Valle Vista, CA
- 0.8 21 km ESE of Anza, CA
- 0.6 21 km SW of La Quinta, CA
- 0.1 21 km ESE of Anza, CA
- 0.3 3 km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 1.3 21 km ESE of Anza, CA
- 3.1 20 km ESE of Anza, 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.