Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Indio, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Indio in the 24 hours to 9:02 am PST (17:02 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 29 km (18 mi) east of Indio, CA, at 1:28 am PDT on 18 June 2018 (08:28 UTC), 7.1 km deep.
USGS: 20km N of North Shore, CA
31 km (19 mi) E of Indio, CA · 140 km (87 mi) E of Riverside, CA
- When
- 1:28 am PDT on 18 June 2018 ()
- Where
- 29 km (18 mi) east of Indio, CA · earthquakes near Indio
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.1 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Riverside County, 9 km WNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Mecca Hills fault, 12 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 3031 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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Indio, 29 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Mecca, Thermal, Coachella.
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
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.3 on 2016-09-27 — about 14,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 The 1954 San Jacinto Fault, California Earthquake · 48 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 47 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 47 km SW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 50 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.7 38km ESE of Twentynine Palms, CA · 38 km NNE 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 33.7067, -115.9055. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County, CA | 9 km (6 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Imperial County, CA | 90 km (56 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| San Diego County, CA | 111 km (69 mi) | SW | earthquakes near San Diego County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
33 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 16km S of Joshua Tree, CA
- 1.6 12km ENE of Coachella, CA
- 1.5 12km ENE of Coachella, CA
- 1.9 21km ENE of Thousand Palms, CA
- 1.6 17km ENE of Indio, CA
- 2.2 12km ENE of Indio, CA
- 1.8 10km NE of Indio, CA
- 3.2 10km NE of Indio, CA
- 1.8 10km NE of Indio, CA
- 1.6 10km NE of Indio, CA
- 1.6 28km NE of Thermal, CA
- 1.8 21km ENE of Coachella, CA
- 2.2 18km ENE of Thousand Palms, CA
- 2.7 18km ENE of Thousand Palms, CA
- 1.8 10km ESE of North Shore, 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.