Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.1ml
Earthquake near Thousand Palms, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Thousand Palms in the 24 hours to 9:17 am PST (17:17 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 3.1 earthquake was recorded 17 km (10 mi) north-northeast of Thousand Palms, CA, at 9:08 pm PDT on 15 March 2018 (04:08 UTC), 8.3 km deep. 79 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 16km NNE of Thousand Palms, CA
19 km (12 mi) NE of Cathedral City, CA · 148 km (92 mi) NNE of San Diego, CA
- When
- 9:08 pm PDT on 15 March 2018 ()
- Where
- 17 km (10 mi) north-northeast of Thousand Palms, CA · earthquakes near Thousand Palms
- Magnitude
- M 3.1 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- 79 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Riverside County, 39 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Eureka Peak fault, 3 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 3031 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Thousand Palms, 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 40 km (25 mi) from the epicentre. In Thousand Palms, 17 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: Thousand Palms 17 km, intensity III · Desert Hot Springs 17 km, intensity III · Joshua Tree 20 km, intensity II · Yucca Valley 20 km, intensity II · Cathedral City 24 km, intensity II · Palm Springs 25 km, intensity II · Morongo Valley 26 km, intensity II · Palm Desert 27 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1,300 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 260,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 12,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 8,200× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.4× 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 25 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 29 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 0 km NNE of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 3 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1986 North Palm Springs, California Earthquake · 27 km W of this epicentre
- 5.8 3km NE of Yucca Valley, California · 21 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 33.9563, -116.3192. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County, CA | 39 km (24 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 101 km (63 mi) | N | earthquakes near San Bernardino County |
| San Diego County, CA | 112 km (70 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Imperial County, CA | 135 km (84 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
45 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.6 11km N of Cabazon, CA
- 1.8 12km N of Cabazon, CA
- 1.6 11km N of Cabazon, CA
- 2.4 11km N of Cabazon, CA
- 1.8 11km N of Cabazon, CA
- 2.5 9km N of Cabazon, CA
- 2.4 9km N of Cabazon, CA
- 1.7 12km N of Cabazon, CA
- 1.7 12km N of Cabazon, CA
- 2.4 12km N of Cabazon, CA
- 1.7 11km N of Cabazon, CA
- 1.7 12km N of Cabazon, CA
- 1.8 12km N of Cabazon, CA
- 1.6 11km N of Cabazon, CA
- 1.6 13km NNE of Banning, 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.