QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.5mw

Earthquake near Campo, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Campo in the 24 hours to 4:02 am PST (12:02 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 122 km (76 mi) E, at 10:27 am PST on 3 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 321 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Campo

This page: a magnitude 3.5 earthquake was recorded 40 km (25 mi) northeast of Campo, CA, at 5:25 pm PST on 15 December 2016 (01:25 UTC), 10 km deep. 24 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 16km NW of Ocotillo, CA

94 km (58 mi) E of San Diego, CA

5:25 pm PST, Dec 15, 2016 · · 10 km deep · released about 2.7 tons of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Diego County 64 kmImperial County 76 kmRiverside County 101 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
5:25 pm PST on 15 December 2016 ()
Where
40 km (25 mi) northeast of Campo, CA · earthquakes near Campo
Magnitude
M 3.5 (mw)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
24 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking
intensity V (ShakeMap)
Nearest
San Diego County, 64 km WNW
Nearest mapped fault
Elsinore 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 1610 days ago

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 63 km (39 mi) from the epicentre. In Campo, 40 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: Pine Valley 37 km, intensity II · Campo 40 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 2.7 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 63,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.5 about 2.7 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 5.6× more

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 6.2 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.6 The 1942 Fish Creek Mountains, California Earthquake · 36 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 6.6 The 1968 Borrego Mountain, California Earthquake · 39 km N of this epicentre
  3. 6.6 The 1987 Superstition Hills, California Earthquake · 33 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 6.2 The 1987 Elmore Ranch, California Earthquake · 43 km NE of this epicentre
  5. 5.7 Eastern San Diego County, California · 41 km N 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 32.8300, -116.1285. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Diego County, CA 64 km (40 mi) WNW earthquakes near San Diego County
Imperial County, CA 76 km (47 mi) ENE earthquakes near Imperial County
Riverside County, CA 101 km (63 mi) N earthquakes near Riverside County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 14km SW of Borrego Springs, CA
  2. 1.6 4km E of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  3. 1.5 2km SE of Ocotillo, CA
  4. 1.7 10km SSE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  5. 1.9 13km E of Borrego Springs, CA
  6. 2.4 10km ENE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  7. 3.0 10km SE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  8. 1.8 12km N of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  9. 1.6 17km WNW of Progreso, B.C., MX
  10. 1.8 15km E of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  11. 1.8 15km E of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  12. 1.6 15km WNW of Progreso, B.C., MX
  13. 2.1 17km WNW of Progreso, B.C., MX
  14. 1.5 18km WNW of Progreso, B.C., MX
  15. 2.8 17km WNW of Progreso, B.C., MX

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.