Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Holtville, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Holtville in the 24 hours to 5:51 am PST (13:51 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 46 km (29 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 Holtville
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 9 km (6 mi) south-southwest of Holtville, CA, at 1:16 am PDT on 4 November 2016 (08:16 UTC), 7.7 km deep.
USGS: 9km SSW of Holtville, CA
- When
- 1:16 am PDT on 4 November 2016 ()
- Where
- 9 km (6 mi) south-southwest of Holtville, CA · earthquakes near Holtville
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Imperial County, 34 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- Imperial fault, 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 3565 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 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Holtville, 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Calexico, Heber, El Centro, Imperial, Seeley, Brawley.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.4 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 2,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.4 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 4.0 on 2016-07-31 — about 5,200 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 43 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.9 The 1940 Imperial Valley, California Earthquake · 12 km NNE of this epicentre
- 6.6 The 1942 Fish Creek Mountains, California Earthquake · 42 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.4 The 1979 Imperial Valley Earthquake, California-Baja California · 10 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.3 The 1906 Imperial Valley, California Earthquake · 19 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1915 Imperial Valley, California Earthquakes (First Major Event) · 9 km NW 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 32.7412, -115.4265. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperial County, CA | 34 km (21 mi) | N | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| Riverside County, CA | 122 km (76 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Riverside County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
38 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.1 7km WSW of Holtville, CA
- 1.7 9km SSW of Progreso, B.C., MX
- 1.5 6km SW of Holtville, CA
- 1.5 7km NE of Imperial, CA
- 2.3 9km SSW of Holtville, CA
- 1.9 7km SW of Holtville, CA
- 1.8 9km SSW of Holtville, CA
- 2.0 8km SSW of Holtville, CA
- 1.6 8km SW of Progreso, B.C., MX
- 1.7 9km NE of Mexicali, B.C., MX
- 1.8 8km SSW of Holtville, CA
- 1.7 6km NE of Mexicali, B.C., MX
- 1.7 6km NE of Mexicali, B.C., MX
- 3.4 8km SSW of Holtville, CA
- 2.2 9km SSW of Holtville, 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.