Earthquake near Joshua Tree, CA

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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Joshua Tree, 15 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: Twentynine Palms, Sky Valley, Yucca Valley, Desert Edge, Garnet, Desert Hot Springs.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 33 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 450,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 320,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 29× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 33 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 27 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 29 km NW of this epicentre Jun 28, 1992
2. 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 13 km SW of this epicentre Apr 23, 1992
3. 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 13 km WSW of this epicentre Dec 4, 1948
4. 6.0 The 1986 North Palm Springs, California Earthquake · 37 km W of this epicentre Jul 8, 1986
5. 5.8 3km NE of Yucca Valley, California · 22 km WNW of this epicentre Jun 28, 1992

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 34.0310, -116.2032. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 1.5 18km N of Indio, CA 11:20 UTC
2. 2.0 18km N of Indio, CA 11:08 UTC
3. 1.6 19km N of Indio, CA 11:07 UTC
4. 1.6 10km ENE of Indio, CA 10:53 UTC
5. 1.8 14km W of Morongo Valley, CA 11:00 UTC
6. 1.5 12km NNE of Cabazon, CA 09:23 UTC
7. 1.6 22km N of Yucca Valley, CA 21:03 UTC
8. 2.6 6km WNW of Desert Hot Springs, CA 04:00 UTC
9. 1.7 15km S of Joshua Tree, CA 04:28 UTC
10. 1.6 24km N of Yucca Valley, CA 08:31 UTC
11. 2.1 14km NNE of Cabazon, CA 05:07 UTC
12. 1.7 12km NE of Coachella, CA 15:14 UTC
13. 1.6 9km NE of Indio, CA 09:23 UTC
14. 2.0 17km NE of Indio, CA 04:44 UTC
15. 1.9 9km NE of Indio, CA 16:43 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 06:58 UTC. 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.