Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Westmorland, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Westmorland in the 24 hours to 1:12 pm PST (21:12 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 79 km (49 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 Westmorland
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 24 km (15 mi) west-southwest of Westmorland, CA, at 12:28 am PDT on 26 August 2017 (07:28 UTC), 8.5 km deep.
USGS: 24km WSW of Westmorland, CA
- When
- 12:28 am PDT on 26 August 2017 ()
- Where
- 24 km (15 mi) west-southwest of Westmorland, CA · earthquakes near Westmorland
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Imperial County, 48 km E
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Jacinto 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 3304 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Westmorland, CA
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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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Westmorland, 24 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Seeley, Imperial.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 8.7 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 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.7 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 11,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 40 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.9 The 1940 Imperial Valley, California Earthquake · 47 km ESE of this epicentre
- 6.6 The 1942 Fish Creek Mountains, California Earthquake · 7 km ENE of this epicentre
- 6.6 The 1968 Borrego Mountain, California Earthquake · 33 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.6 The 1987 Superstition Hills, California Earthquake · 6 km N of this epicentre
- 6.4 The 1954 San Jacinto Fault, California Earthquake · 43 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 32.9598, -115.8600. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperial County, CA | 48 km (30 mi) | E | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| San Diego County, CA | 86 km (53 mi) | W | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Riverside County, CA | 87 km (54 mi) | N | 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.
- 1.8 27km SSW of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.8 27km SSW of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 2.3 4km SW of Imperial, CA
- 1.8 8km SSE of Brawley, CA
- 2.6 10km SE of Ocotillo Wells, 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
- 2.2 4km SW of Imperial, CA
- 1.5 4km SW of Imperial, CA
- 1.5 16km ENE of Ocotillo, CA
- 2.2 20km NE of Pine 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.