Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Indio, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Indio in the 24 hours to 5:34 am PST (13:34 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 1.8 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) northeast of Indio, CA, at 11:39 am PST on 18 November 2019 (19:39 UTC), 8.0 km deep.
USGS: 16km NE of Indio, CA
17 km (10 mi) NE of Indio, CA · 148 km (92 mi) NE of San Diego, CA
- When
- 11:39 am PST on 18 November 2019 ()
- Where
- 16 km (10 mi) northeast of Indio, CA · earthquakes near Indio
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Riverside County, 13 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Coachella Fan Fault Zone, 7 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 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Indio, 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: Coachella, Bermuda Dunes, Thermal, Vista Santa Rosa, Sky Valley, Indian Wells.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 14 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 790,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 70× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 14 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 4.2 on 2019-07-22 — about 4,400 times the energy of this one.
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 · 26 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 49 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 29 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 3km NE of Yucca Valley, California · 46 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.7 38km ESE of Twentynine Palms, CA · 42 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 33.8187, -116.0892. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County, CA | 13 km (8 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| San Diego County, CA | 109 km (68 mi) | SW | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Imperial County, CA | 110 km (68 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 116 km (72 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
28 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 14km ENE of Indio, CA
- 1.6 9km NE of Indio, CA
- 1.6 21km ESE of Anza, CA
- 2.0 9km NE of Indio, CA
- 2.3 9km NE of Indio, CA
- 2.2 13km NNE of Indio, CA
- 2.4 12km ENE of Thermal, CA
- 1.5 5 km N of Yucca Valley, CA
- 2.5 4km N of Yucca Valley, CA
- 1.6 13km NNE of Thousand Palms, CA
- 1.6 9km NE of Indio, CA
- 1.5 2km SSE of Garnet, CA
- 1.5 30km SE of Twentynine Palms, CA
- 1.6 12km NE of Indio, CA
- 2.5 7km NE of Desert Hot Springs, 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.