QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Desert Hot Springs, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Desert Hot Springs in the 24 hours to 9:18 pm PST (05:18 UTC). The last one was M 3.6, 63 km (39 mi) SSW, at 12:31 am PDT on 19 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 165 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Desert Hot Springs

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) east-northeast of Desert Hot Springs, CA, at 11:43 am PDT on 29 August 2017 (18:43 UTC), 2.2 km deep.

USGS: 6km ENE of Desert Hot Springs, CA

17 km (10 mi) N of Cathedral City, CA · 145 km (90 mi) NNE of San Diego, CA

11:43 am PDT, Aug 29, 2017 · · 2.2 km deep · released about 14 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Desert Hot Springs Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 49 kmSan Bernardino County 100 kmSan Diego County 111 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
11:43 am PDT on 29 August 2017 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) east-northeast of Desert Hot Springs, CA · earthquakes near Desert Hot Springs
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
2.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Riverside County, 49 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
Long Canyon 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 3303 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 13 km (8 mi) from the epicentre. In Desert Hot Springs, 6 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: Desert Hot Springs 6 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 14 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 760,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 68× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 14 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 4.4 on 2016-01-06 — about 8,200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 30 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 24 km N of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 43 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 12 km ESE of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 10 km E of this epicentre
  5. 6.0 The 1986 North Palm Springs, California Earthquake · 16 km W 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 33.9855, -116.4402. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 49 km (31 mi) SE earthquakes near Riverside County
San Bernardino County, CA 100 km (62 mi) NNE earthquakes near San Bernardino County
San Diego County, CA 111 km (69 mi) SSW earthquakes near San Diego County
Imperial County, CA 145 km (90 mi) SE earthquakes near Imperial County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 5km S of Idyllwild, CA
  2. 1.9 8km SE of Valle Vista, CA
  3. 1.7 6km NE of Anza, CA
  4. 1.9 7km SSW of Idyllwild, CA
  5. 1.5 10km NE of Indio, CA
  6. 1.8 10km NE of Indio, CA
  7. 1.7 6km SSE of Beaumont, CA
  8. 1.6 8km S of Morongo Valley, CA
  9. 2.4 24km N of Yucca Valley, CA
  10. 1.7 11km N of Cabazon, CA
  11. 2.4 24km N of Yucca Valley, CA
  12. 1.9 11km NE of Coachella, CA
  13. 1.7 18km SSE of Joshua Tree, CA
  14. 1.6 18km SSE of Joshua Tree, CA
  15. 1.6 18km SSE of Joshua Tree, 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.