Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.5ml
Earthquake near Desert Hot Springs, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Desert Hot Springs in the 24 hours to 5:09 pm PST (01:09 UTC). The last one was M 3.6, 63 km (39 mi) SSW, at 12:31 am PDT on 19 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 165 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Desert Hot Springs
This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded in Desert Hot Springs, CA, at 6:03 am PDT on 10 October 2016 (13:03 UTC), 12 km deep. 3 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 2km NW of Desert Hot Springs, CA
16 km (10 mi) NNW of Cathedral City, CA · 141 km (88 mi) NNE of San Diego, CA
- When
- 6:03 am PDT on 10 October 2016 ()
- Where
- in Desert Hot Springs, CA · earthquakes near Desert Hot Springs
- Magnitude
- M 2.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- 3 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Riverside County, 54 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, 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 3683 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Desert Hot Springs, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Desert Hot Springs, 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 19 km (12 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.
Likely felt in: Desert Hot Springs in town, intensity II · Morongo Valley 10 km, intensity II · Palm Springs 16 km, intensity II · Yucca Valley 18 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 180 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 83,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 59,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.2× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.5 about 180 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 4.4 on 2016-01-06 — about 640 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 35 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 26 km NNE of this epicentre
- 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 48 km WSW of this epicentre
- 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 39 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 18 km E of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 17 km E 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 33.9715, -116.5135. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County, CA | 54 km (34 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 103 km (64 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near San Bernardino County |
| San Diego County, CA | 108 km (67 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Orange County, CA | 121 km (75 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Imperial County, CA | 149 km (93 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
45 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 12km NNE of Thousand Palms, CA
- 2.0 12km NNE of Thousand Palms, CA
- 2.1 6km NNW of Banning, CA
- 1.5 17km SW of La Quinta, CA
- 1.6 7km SSE of Idyllwild, CA
- 1.7 18km WNW of Morongo Valley, CA
- 1.7 2km NNE of Yucaipa, CA
- 2.1 4km N of Banning, CA
- 1.8 5km SW of Idyllwild, CA
- 1.9 11km SW of Morongo Valley, CA
- 2.1 14km NW of Morongo Valley, CA
- 1.8 13km NNE of Cabazon, CA
- 1.9 9km S of Big Bear City, CA
- 1.6 5km SW of Morongo Valley, CA
- 2.8 11km NE of Indio, 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.