QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Coachella, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Coachella in the 24 hours to 1:38 pm PST (21:38 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 167 km (104 mi) SE, at 10:27 am PST on 3 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 321 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Coachella

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 46 km (29 mi) south of Coachella, CA, at 6:45 am PDT on 22 June 2016 (13:45 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: 15km NNW of Ocotillo Wells, CA

100 km (62 mi) ENE of San Diego, CA · 52 km (32 mi) S of Indio, CA

6:45 am PDT, Jun 22, 2016 · · 11 km deep · released about 8.1 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 55 kmSan Diego County 59 kmImperial County 83 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
6:45 am PDT on 22 June 2016 ()
Where
46 km (29 mi) south of Coachella, CA · earthquakes near Coachella
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Riverside County, 55 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault
San Jacinto fault, 5 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 3794 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 4 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Coachella, 46 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Borrego Springs, Desert Shores, Salton City, Oasis.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 8.1 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.1 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 230,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 18 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.6 The 1968 Borrego Mountain, California Earthquake · 14 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 6.6 The 1987 Superstition Hills, California Earthquake · 43 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 6.4 The 1954 San Jacinto Fault, California Earthquake · 12 km ENE of this epicentre
  4. 6.2 The 1987 Elmore Ranch, California Earthquake · 43 km ESE of this epicentre
  5. 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 16 km NNW 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 33.2648, -116.2090. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 55 km (34 mi) NNE earthquakes near Riverside County
San Diego County, CA 59 km (37 mi) WSW earthquakes near San Diego County
Imperial County, CA 83 km (52 mi) ESE earthquakes near Imperial County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 3km WSW of Borrego Springs, CA
  2. 2.3 9km ENE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  3. 1.6 10km SSW of Borrego Springs, CA
  4. 3.4 11km SSW of Borrego Springs, CA
  5. 2.5 13km E of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  6. 1.9 15km ESE of Julian, CA
  7. 1.6 23km ESE of Anza, CA
  8. 3.2 9km SE of Lake Henshaw, CA
  9. 1.6 3km W of Borrego Springs, CA
  10. 1.7 3km WSW of Borrego Springs, CA
  11. 2.0 14km ESE of Anza, CA
  12. 1.7 20km SSW of La Quinta, CA
  13. 1.6 23km ESE of Anza, CA
  14. 1.8 24km ESE of Julian, CA
  15. 1.6 14km S of Salton City, 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.