QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Salton City, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Salton City in the 24 hours to 11:27 am PST (19:27 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 121 km (75 mi) SE, at 10:27 am PST on 3 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 321 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Salton City

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 17 km (11 mi) south of Salton City, CA, at 11:09 pm PDT on 2 October 2017 (06:09 UTC), 7.2 km deep.

USGS: 17km S of Salton City, CA

11:09 pm PDT, Oct 2, 2017 · · 7.2 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Salton City Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Imperial County 55 kmRiverside County 65 kmSan Diego County 79 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
11:09 pm PDT on 2 October 2017 ()
Where
17 km (11 mi) south of Salton City, CA · earthquakes near Salton City
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
7.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Imperial County, 55 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Extra fault, 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

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 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Salton City, 17 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 18,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 33 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.6 The 1942 Fish Creek Mountains, California Earthquake · 24 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 6.6 The 1968 Borrego Mountain, California Earthquake · 16 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.6 The 1987 Superstition Hills, California Earthquake · 17 km SSE of this epicentre
  4. 6.4 The 1954 San Jacinto Fault, California Earthquake · 21 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 6.3 The 1906 Imperial Valley, California Earthquake · 49 km SE 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 33.1470, -115.9368. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Imperial County, CA 55 km (34 mi) ESE earthquakes near Imperial County
Riverside County, CA 65 km (40 mi) N earthquakes near Riverside County
San Diego County, CA 79 km (49 mi) W earthquakes near San Diego County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 11km ENE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  2. 1.6 12km SSW of Salton City, CA
  3. 2.5 18km N of Ocotillo, CA
  4. 2.1 24km WSW of Westmorland, CA
  5. 1.6 20km ESE of Julian, CA
  6. 1.6 10km SW of Niland, CA
  7. 1.6 13km ENE of Borrego Springs, CA
  8. 2.8 8km NE of Borrego Springs, CA
  9. 1.6 9km NE of Borrego Springs, CA
  10. 1.9 12km WNW of Calipatria, CA
  11. 1.6 3km SSE of Bombay Beach, CA
  12. 1.8 17km S of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  13. 1.6 8km SW of Niland, CA
  14. 1.7 7km S of Borrego Springs, CA
  15. 1.6 15km N of Ocotillo Wells, 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.