Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
9km ENE of Mexicali, B.C., MX
Yes. A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 9km ENE of Mexicali, B.C., MX, 82 km (51 mi) WNW of Yuma, AZ, at 12:53 am PDT on 21 August 2017 (07:53 UTC), 14 km deep.
82 km (51 mi) WNW of Yuma, AZ
- When
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 14 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Imperial County, 41 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- Imperial fault, 12 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 Calexico, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Calexico, CA. No account or email needed.
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 minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Calexico, Holtville, Heber, El Centro, Imperial.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.1 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.1 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 in our catalogue was M 4.0 on 2016-07-31 — about 4,700 times the energy of this one.
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 32.6755, -115.3808. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperial County, CA | 41 km (25 mi) | N | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| Riverside County, CA | 131 km (81 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Riverside County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
54 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.3 5km WNW of Delta, B.C., MX
- 1.7 4km SSW of Brawley, CA
- 1.6 6km NE of Imperial, CA
- 1.7 20km NW of Progreso, B.C., MX
- 3.0 19km W of Delta, B.C., MX
- 2.3 4km SW of Imperial, CA
- 2.7 19km W of Delta, B.C., MX
- 2.2 7km N of Delta, B.C., MX
- 1.8 8km SSE of Brawley, CA
- 1.7 8km SSE of Brawley, CA
- 1.7 8km SSE of Brawley, CA
- 1.9 8km SSE of Brawley, CA
- 1.9 9km SSE of Brawley, CA
- 1.7 8km SSE of Brawley, CA
- 1.7 4km SW of Imperial, 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.