Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Imperial, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Imperial in the 24 hours to 7:59 am PST (15:59 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 59 km (37 mi) SE, at 10:27 am PST on 3 November 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 321 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Imperial
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) west-southwest of Imperial, CA, at 3:25 pm PDT on 13 September 2017 (22:25 UTC), 12 km deep.
USGS: 4km WSW of Imperial, CA
- When
- 3:25 pm PDT on 13 September 2017 ()
- Where
- 4 km (3 mi) west-southwest of Imperial, CA · earthquakes near Imperial
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Imperial County, 33 km NE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Jacinto fault, 8 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 3304 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Imperial, CA
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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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Imperial, 4 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: Imperial 4 km, intensity II · El Centro 7 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 17 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 900,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 640,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 57× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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 2,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 40 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.9 The 1940 Imperial Valley, California Earthquake · 22 km E of this epicentre
- 6.6 The 1942 Fish Creek Mountains, California Earthquake · 22 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.6 The 1987 Superstition Hills, California Earthquake · 30 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.4 The 1979 Imperial Valley Earthquake, California-Baja California · 30 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.3 The 1906 Imperial Valley, California Earthquake · 13 km NE 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 32.8335, -115.6140. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperial County, CA | 33 km (21 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| Riverside County, CA | 106 km (66 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| San Diego County, CA | 111 km (69 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near San Diego County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
52 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.1 18km WNW of Progreso, B.C., MX
- 1.6 8km SW of Niland, CA
- 2.3 17km WNW of Westmorland, CA
- 1.9 12km WNW of Calipatria, CA
- 1.9 12km WNW of Calipatria, CA
- 1.8 12km WNW of Calipatria, CA
- 2.1 7km SW of Niland, CA
- 1.6 8km SW of Niland, CA
- 3.0 5km W of Imperial, CA
- 1.8 4km SSW of Heber, CA
- 1.6 18km S of Salton City, CA
- 1.7 17km S of Salton City, CA
- 2.0 16km E of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.7 10km NW of Calipatria, CA
- 1.5 11km NW of Calipatria, 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.