Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Cathedral City, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Cathedral City in the 24 hours to 2:08 pm PST (22:08 UTC). The last one was M 3.1, 31 km (19 mi) S, at 5:01 pm PDT on 30 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 8 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Cathedral City
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) southwest of Cathedral City, CA, at 6:50 am PST on 18 November 2019 (14:50 UTC), 12 km deep.
USGS: 13km SW of Cathedral City, CA
18 km (11 mi) WSW of Palm Desert, CA · 111 km (69 mi) NNE of San Diego, CA
- When
- 6:50 am PST on 18 November 2019 ()
- Where
- 13 km (8 mi) southwest of Cathedral City, CA · earthquakes near Cathedral City
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Riverside County, 51 km E
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Jacinto fault, 11 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 2551 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Cathedral City, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Cathedral City, 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Cathedral City, 13 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: Rancho Mirage, Palm Springs, Idyllwild, Palm Desert, Idyllwild-Pine Cove, Anza.
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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
- 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 5.2 on 2016-06-10 — about 340,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 24 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 40 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 38 km NE of this epicentre
- 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 42 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 39 km NNE of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1986 North Palm Springs, California Earthquake · 35 km N 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 33.6833, -116.5520. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County, CA | 51 km (32 mi) | E | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| San Diego County, CA | 76 km (47 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Orange County, CA | 113 km (70 mi) | W | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Imperial County, CA | 132 km (82 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
52 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.9 7km WSW of Idyllwild, CA
- 1.8 10km NNW of Anza, CA
- 1.7 8km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 1.9 12km SW of Morongo Valley, CA
- 1.7 8km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 1.8 8 km NNE of Banning, CA
- 1.9 8km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 2.2 6 km NE of Anza, CA
- 1.8 6km NE of Anza, CA
- 2.1 5 km NE of Anza, CA
- 2.1 5 km NE of Anza, CA
- 2.5 9km NNW of Borrego Springs, CA
- 1.6 10km NE of Aguanga, CA
- 1.6 10km SW of Idyllwild, CA
- 2.0 4km WNW of Valle Vista, 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.