QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Borrego Springs, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Borrego Springs in the 24 hours to 3:45 pm PST (23:45 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 145 km (90 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 Borrego Springs

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) northeast of Borrego Springs, CA, at 4:40 pm PST on 19 November 2018 (00:40 UTC), 10 km deep.

USGS: 16km NE of Borrego Springs, CA

41 km (25 mi) S of Indio, CA · 102 km (63 mi) NE of San Diego, CA

4:40 pm PST, Nov 19, 2018 · · 10 km deep · released about 10 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Borrego Springs Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 47 kmSan Diego County 61 kmImperial County 92 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
4:40 pm PST on 19 November 2018 ()
Where
16 km (10 mi) northeast of Borrego Springs, CA · earthquakes near Borrego Springs
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Riverside County, 47 km NNE
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 2906 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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Borrego Springs, 16 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: Oasis, Desert Shores, Mecca, Salton City, Vista Santa Rosa.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 10 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 95× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 10 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 5.2 on 2016-06-10 — about 180,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 14 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.6 The 1968 Borrego Mountain, California Earthquake · 25 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 The 1954 San Jacinto Fault, California Earthquake · 18 km ESE of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 4 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 5.7 Eastern San Diego County, California · 24 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 8km NNE of Ocotillo Wells, CA · 23 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 33.3657, -116.2620. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 47 km (29 mi) NNE earthquakes near Riverside County
San Diego County, CA 61 km (38 mi) SW earthquakes near San Diego County
Imperial County, CA 92 km (57 mi) ESE earthquakes near Imperial County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 10km NNE of Borrego Springs, CA
  2. 1.7 17km ESE of Julian, CA
  3. 1.5 22km N of Borrego Springs, CA
  4. 1.5 24km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  5. 1.5 23km ENE of Pine Valley, CA
  6. 1.6 12km ENE of Coachella, CA
  7. 1.8 10km SW of Anza, CA
  8. 1.6 15km E of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  9. 1.5 12km ENE of Coachella, CA
  10. 1.5 4km WSW of Borrego Springs, CA
  11. 1.7 17km ESE of Julian, CA
  12. 1.6 15km N of Borrego Springs, CA
  13. 2.8 26km SSW of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  14. 1.9 16km ESE of Anza, CA
  15. 1.8 20km SE 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.