Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Brawley, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Brawley in the 24 hours to 7:32 am PST (15:32 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 69 km (43 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 Brawley
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 39 km (24 mi) north-northwest of Brawley, CA, at 7:37 am PDT on 5 October 2016 (14:37 UTC), 5.4 km deep.
USGS: 7km SE of Bombay Beach, CA
- When
- 7:37 am PDT on 5 October 2016 ()
- Where
- 39 km (24 mi) north-northwest of Brawley, CA · earthquakes near Brawley
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Imperial County, 43 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Brawley Seismic Zone, under 1 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 3690 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Brawley, CA
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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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Brawley, 39 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: Niland, Salton City, Calipatria, Westmorland.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.6 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 2,700,000× 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 5.6 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 17,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 28 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.6 The 1942 Fish Creek Mountains, California Earthquake · 37 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.6 The 1968 Borrego Mountain, California Earthquake · 41 km WSW of this epicentre
- 6.6 The 1987 Superstition Hills, California Earthquake · 35 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.4 The 1954 San Jacinto Fault, California Earthquake · 36 km W of this epicentre
- 6.3 The 1906 Imperial Valley, California Earthquake · 48 km SSE 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 33.3003, -115.6910. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperial County, CA | 43 km (26 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| Riverside County, CA | 56 km (35 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| San Diego County, CA | 106 km (66 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near San Diego County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
56 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 3.0 8km SW of Niland, CA
- 3.0 8km SW of Niland, CA
- 2.5 8km SW of Niland, CA
- 2.3 8km SW of Niland, CA
- 2.3 8km SW of Niland, CA
- 1.8 7km SW of Niland, CA
- 1.9 8km SW of Niland, CA
- 1.8 8km SW of Niland, CA
- 2.1 8km SW of Niland, CA
- 1.7 8km SW of Niland, CA
- 1.6 6km SW of Niland, CA
- 2.1 8km SW of Niland, CA
- 1.8 8km SW of Niland, CA
- 1.9 19km NW of Westmorland, CA
- 1.9 19km NW of Westmorland, 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.