Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.7ml
Earthquake near Indio, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Indio in the 24 hours to 4:56 pm PST (00:56 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 173 km (107 mi) SE, at 10:27 am PST on 3 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 321 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Indio
This page: a magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) northeast of Indio, CA, at 12:32 pm PST on 12 January 2017 (20:32 UTC), 7.3 km deep. 10 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 10km NE of Indio, CA
10 km (6 mi) NE of Indio, CA · 142 km (88 mi) NE of San Diego, CA
- When
- 12:32 pm PST on 12 January 2017 ()
- Where
- 10 km (6 mi) northeast of Indio, CA · earthquakes near Indio
- Magnitude
- M 2.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- 10 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Riverside County, 15 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Coachella Fan Fault Zone, 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 3563 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Indio, CA
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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 24 km (15 mi) from the epicentre. In Indio, 10 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Indio 10 km, intensity III · Coachella 13 km, intensity II · La Quinta 20 km, intensity II · Palm Desert 22 km, intensity II · Thousand Palms 22 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 330 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 46,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 33,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.9× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.7 about 330 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 5.2 on 2016-06-10 — about 5,600 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 23 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 24 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 45 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 27 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1986 North Palm Springs, California Earthquake · 48 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 3km NE of Yucca Valley, California · 44 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 33.7925, -116.1520. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County, CA | 15 km (10 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| San Diego County, CA | 103 km (64 mi) | SW | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Imperial County, CA | 112 km (69 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 118 km (74 mi) | N | earthquakes near San Bernardino County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
38 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 14 km NE of Borrego Springs, California
- 1.7 3 km NW of Garnet, California
- 2.0 3 km NW of Garnet, California
- 1.8 29 km WNW of Desert Center, California
- 1.6 29 km WNW of Desert Center, California
- 1.6 29 km WNW of Desert Center, California
- 1.7 28 km WNW of Desert Center, California
- 1.6 15 km SSW of Alpine Village, California
- 1.9 6 km NNE of Indio Hills, California
- 2.0 6 km N of Indio Hills, California
- 1.7 16km ENE of Thousand Palms, CA
- 1.8 22km N of Borrego Springs, CA
- 3.0 16km NNE of Borrego Springs, CA
- 1.6 6km NE of Anza, CA
- 3.0 3km SE of Yucca Valley, 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.