Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.5mw
Earthquake near Indio, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Indio in the 24 hours to 2:47 am PST (10:47 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 3.5 earthquake was recorded 17 km (10 mi) north of Indio, CA, at 2:07 pm PST on 10 November 2019 (22:07 UTC), 8.2 km deep. 190 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 16km N of Indio, CA
16 km (10 mi) NNE of Indio, CA · 146 km (91 mi) NE of San Diego, CA
- When
- 2:07 pm PST on 10 November 2019 ()
- Where
- 17 km (10 mi) north of Indio, CA · earthquakes near Indio
- Magnitude
- M 3.5 (mw)
- Depth
- 8.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- 190 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Measured shaking
- intensity V (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Riverside County, 24 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Indio Hills Fault Zone, 6 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 759 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 61 km (38 mi) from the epicentre. In Indio, 17 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.
Likely felt in: Indio 17 km, intensity III · Thousand Palms 19 km, intensity III · Coachella 21 km, intensity III · Palm Desert 23 km, intensity III · La Quinta 25 km, intensity II · Cathedral City 27 km, intensity II · Desert Hot Springs 30 km, intensity II · Joshua Tree 32 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 2.4 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 70,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 3,100× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,200× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.5 about 2.4 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 5.1× more
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 4.2 on 2019-07-22 — about 12 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 23 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 43 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 15 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 18 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1986 North Palm Springs, California Earthquake · 41 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 3km NE of Yucca Valley, California · 35 km NNW 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 33.8683, -116.1958. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County, CA | 24 km (15 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| San Diego County, CA | 108 km (67 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 110 km (68 mi) | N | earthquakes near San Bernardino County |
| Imperial County, CA | 121 km (75 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
36 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.3 17km ESE of Anza, CA
- 1.5 30km SE of Twentynine Palms, CA
- 1.6 12km NE of Indio, CA
- 2.3 8km WNW of Garnet, CA
- 1.8 10km WSW of Morongo Valley, CA
- 2.5 7km NE of Desert Hot Springs, CA
- 1.7 13km NE of Indio, CA
- 1.7 11km SW of Morongo Valley, CA
- 1.5 10km ENE of Indio, CA
- 1.7 14km S of Twentynine Palms, CA
- 1.6 10 km E of Desert Hot Springs, CA
- 1.7 10km NE of Desert Hot Springs, CA
- 2.0 22km ESE of Anza, CA
- 1.7 17km SSW of La Quinta, CA
- 1.8 19km SW 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.