Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Indio, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Indio in the 24 hours to 12:13 am PST (08:13 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 173 km (107 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 Indio
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 17 km (11 mi) east-northeast of Indio, CA, at 8:32 pm PST on 3 December 2018 (04:32 UTC), 5.1 km deep.
USGS: 17km ENE of Indio, CA
18 km (11 mi) ENE of Indio, CA · 149 km (92 mi) NE of San Diego, CA
- When
- 8:32 pm PST on 3 December 2018 ()
- Where
- 17 km (11 mi) east-northeast of Indio, CA · earthquakes near Indio
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.1 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Riverside County, 10 km SSE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Coachella Fan Fault Zone, 9 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 2900 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Indio, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Indio, CA. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Indio, 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Coachella, Thermal, Bermuda Dunes, Vista Santa Rosa, Mecca, Indian Wells.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.6 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 2,300,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.6 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 19 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 30 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 48 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 32 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 3km NE of Yucca Valley, California · 49 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.7 38km ESE of Twentynine Palms, CA · 40 km ENE 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 33.8047, -116.0577. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County, CA | 10 km (6 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Imperial County, CA | 107 km (67 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| San Diego County, CA | 109 km (68 mi) | SW | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 118 km (73 mi) | N | earthquakes near San Bernardino County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
32 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.2 8km SSW of Joshua Tree, CA
- 1.7 32km SE of Twentynine Palms, CA
- 2.4 14km E of Desert Hot Springs, CA
- 1.6 11km S of Joshua Tree, CA
- 1.5 23km SSW of La Quinta, CA
- 2.6 15km ENE of Thousand Palms, CA
- 1.7 15km NE of Thousand Palms, CA
- 2.1 15km ENE of Thousand Palms, CA
- 2.0 15km ENE of Thousand Palms, CA
- 2.1 23km SSW of La Quinta, CA
- 1.5 22km ENE of Coachella, CA
- 1.5 12km NNE of Thousand Palms, CA
- 2.1 20km ENE of Coachella, CA
- 1.7 15km ENE of Thousand Palms, CA
- 1.7 18km SSW of La Quinta, 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.