quarry blast · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
44km NNW of Los Algodones, B.C., MX
No: USGS classifies this as a quarry blast, not an earthquake. A magnitude 1.5 quarry blast was recorded 44km NNW of Los Algodones, B.C., MX, 72 km (45 mi) NW of Yuma, AZ, at 10:44 am PDT on 12 October 2018 (17:44 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
72 km (45 mi) NW of Yuma, AZ
- When
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- -0.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Imperial County, 35 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- Algodones fault, 25 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 2943 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Holtville, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Holtville, CA. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. 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.
USGS catalogues this as quarry blast, not an earthquake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,600,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.7 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.
Where
Epicentre 33.0420, -114.9802. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperial County, CA | 35 km (22 mi) | W | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| Yuma County, AZ | 104 km (65 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Yuma County |
| La Paz County, AZ | 116 km (72 mi) | NE | earthquakes near La Paz County |
| Riverside County, CA | 122 km (76 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Riverside County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
5 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 46km NE of Holtville, CA
- 1.5 47km NE of Holtville, CA
- 1.7 44km NNW of Los Algodones, B.C., MX
- 1.6 45km NNW of Los Algodones, B.C., MX
- 1.6 46km NNW of Los Algodones, B.C., MX
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.