QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1ml

Earthquake near Niland, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Niland in the 24 hours to 6:44 am PST (14:44 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 95 km (59 mi) SSE, at 10:27 am PST on 3 November 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 321 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Niland

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 9 km (6 mi) west-southwest of Niland, CA, at 5:04 pm PDT on 24 October 2018 (00:04 UTC), 2.3 km deep.

USGS: 9km WSW of Niland, CA

5:04 pm PDT, Oct 24, 2018 · · 2.3 km deep · released about 37 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Niland Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Imperial County 29 kmRiverside County 70 kmSan Diego County 111 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
5:04 pm PDT on 24 October 2018 ()
Where
9 km (6 mi) west-southwest of Niland, CA · earthquakes near Niland
Magnitude
M 2.1 (ml)
Depth
2.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Imperial County, 29 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
Brawley Seismic Zone, 3 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 2939 days ago

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 17 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Niland, 9 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). 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.

Likely felt in: Calipatria 12 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 37 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 410,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 290,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 26× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 37 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 4.3 on 2016-09-27 — about 2,500 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 35 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.9 The 1940 Imperial Valley, California Earthquake · 44 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 6.6 The 1942 Fish Creek Mountains, California Earthquake · 30 km SW of this epicentre
  3. 6.6 The 1968 Borrego Mountain, California Earthquake · 46 km W of this epicentre
  4. 6.6 The 1987 Superstition Hills, California Earthquake · 31 km SW of this epicentre
  5. 6.4 The 1954 San Jacinto Fault, California Earthquake · 46 km WNW 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 33.1963, -115.6048. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Imperial County, CA 29 km (18 mi) SE earthquakes near Imperial County
Riverside County, CA 70 km (43 mi) NNW earthquakes near Riverside County
San Diego County, CA 111 km (69 mi) W earthquakes near San Diego County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

49 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.5 2km E of Westmorland, CA
  2. 2.0 2km E of Westmorland, CA
  3. 1.9 3km E of Westmorland, CA
  4. 2.0 3km E of Westmorland, CA
  5. 1.8 2km ENE of Westmorland, CA
  6. 2.1 2km E of Westmorland, CA
  7. 1.5 24km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  8. 1.6 15km E of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  9. 2.3 11km SW of Niland, CA
  10. 1.6 4km SW of Brawley, CA
  11. 1.8 20km SE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  12. 1.9 20km SE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  13. 3.9 20km SE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  14. 1.9 5km SSW of Brawley, CA
  15. 1.7 2km N of El Centro, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.