QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0ml

Earthquake near Thousand Palms, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Thousand Palms in the 24 hours to 4:24 pm PST (00:24 UTC). The last one was M 3.1, 36 km (22 mi) S, at 5:01 pm PDT on 30 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 8 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Thousand Palms

This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 12 km (7 mi) north-northeast of Thousand Palms, CA, at 7:35 pm PST on 9 December 2016 (03:35 UTC), 5.0 km deep.

USGS: 12km NNE of Thousand Palms, CA

14 km (9 mi) NE of Cathedral City, CA · 143 km (89 mi) NNE of San Diego, CA

7:35 pm PST, Dec 9, 2016 · · 5.0 km deep · released about 36 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Thousand Palms Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 38 kmSan Bernardino County 105 kmSan Diego County 107 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
7:35 pm PST on 9 December 2016 ()
Where
12 km (7 mi) north-northeast of Thousand Palms, CA · earthquakes near Thousand Palms
Magnitude
M 2.0 (ml)
Depth
5.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Riverside County, 38 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas 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 3563 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 16 km (10 mi) from the epicentre. In Thousand Palms, 12 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: Thousand Palms 12 km, intensity II · Desert Hot Springs 15 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 36 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 420,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 300,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 27× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 36 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 27 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 32 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 5 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 7 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 The 1986 North Palm Springs, California Earthquake · 26 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 3km NE of Yucca Valley, California · 24 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 33.9185, -116.3482. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 38 km (24 mi) ESE earthquakes near Riverside County
San Bernardino County, CA 105 km (66 mi) N earthquakes near San Bernardino County
San Diego County, CA 107 km (67 mi) SSW earthquakes near San Diego County
Imperial County, CA 134 km (83 mi) SE earthquakes near Imperial County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 19km N of Indio, CA
  2. 1.7 4km N of Cabazon, CA
  3. 2.4 7km S of Idyllwild, CA
  4. 2.0 20km NE of Coachella, CA
  5. 2.2 9km N of Yucca Valley, CA
  6. 2.7 10km NE of Indio, CA
  7. 1.7 9km SE of Valle Vista, CA
  8. 1.9 7km NE of Banning, CA
  9. 1.7 18km S of Joshua Tree, CA
  10. 1.6 16km NE of Coachella, CA
  11. 2.1 7km SE of Yucca Valley, CA
  12. 1.6 11km ENE of Desert Hot Springs, CA
  13. 1.9 9km SSW of Idyllwild, CA
  14. 2.1 17km ENE of Thousand Palms, CA
  15. 1.6 13km ESE of Anza, 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.