QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Brawley, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Brawley in the 24 hours to 12:03 am PST (08:03 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 1.7 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) west-southwest of Brawley, CA, at 10:45 pm PST on 31 December 2016 (06:45 UTC), 3.4 km deep.

USGS: 4km WSW of Brawley, CA

10:45 pm PST, Dec 31, 2016 · · 3.4 km deep · released about 12 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Brawley Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Imperial County 21 kmRiverside County 95 kmSan Diego County 113 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
10:45 pm PST on 31 December 2016 ()
Where
4 km (2 mi) west-southwest of Brawley, CA · earthquakes near Brawley
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
3.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Imperial County, 21 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
Brawley Seismic Zone, 2 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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Brawley, 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: Brawley 4 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 12 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 870,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 78× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 12 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 7,700 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 36 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.9 The 1940 Imperial Valley, California Earthquake · 21 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 6.6 The 1942 Fish Creek Mountains, California Earthquake · 21 km W of this epicentre
  3. 6.6 The 1987 Superstition Hills, California Earthquake · 28 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.4 The 1979 Imperial Valley Earthquake, California-Baja California · 38 km SSE of this epicentre
  5. 6.3 The 1906 Imperial Valley, California Earthquake · 9 km SE 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 32.9615, -115.5620. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Imperial County, CA 21 km (13 mi) ENE earthquakes near Imperial County
Riverside County, CA 95 km (59 mi) NNW earthquakes near Riverside County
San Diego County, CA 113 km (70 mi) W earthquakes near San Diego County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 7km SE of Bombay Beach, CA
  2. 2.2 7km SE of Bombay Beach, CA
  3. 1.6 6km SE of Bombay Beach, CA
  4. 2.7 7km SE of Bombay Beach, CA
  5. 1.9 7km SE of Bombay Beach, CA
  6. 2.3 8km SE of Bombay Beach, CA
  7. 1.6 9km ESE of Bombay Beach, CA
  8. 1.6 3km SSW of Brawley, CA
  9. 1.5 9km W of Holtville, CA
  10. 1.9 6km N of Progreso, B.C., MX
  11. 2.4 1km WSW of Brawley, CA
  12. 1.5 2km SE of Ocotillo, CA
  13. 2.1 14km SSE of Bombay Beach, CA
  14. 1.6 6km N of Progreso, B.C., MX
  15. 1.7 10km SSE of Ocotillo Wells, 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.