Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Holtville, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Holtville in the 24 hours to 3:14 am PST (11:14 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 46 km (29 mi) SSE, at 10:27 am PST on 3 November 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 321 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Holtville
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 7 km (5 mi) west of Holtville, CA, at 5:59 am PDT on 7 October 2018 (12:59 UTC), 9.2 km deep.
USGS: 7km W of Holtville, CA
- When
- 5:59 am PDT on 7 October 2018 ()
- Where
- 7 km (5 mi) west of Holtville, CA · earthquakes near Holtville
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 9.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Imperial County, 27 km NNE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Imperial fault, 2 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 2942 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Holtville, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Holtville, 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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Holtville, 7 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: El Centro, Imperial, Heber, Calexico, Brawley, Seeley.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.3 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 2,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.3 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 4.0 on 2016-07-31 — about 4,600 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 42 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.9 The 1940 Imperial Valley, California Earthquake · 8 km ENE of this epicentre
- 6.6 The 1942 Fish Creek Mountains, California Earthquake · 35 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.6 The 1987 Superstition Hills, California Earthquake · 43 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.4 The 1979 Imperial Valley Earthquake, California-Baja California · 19 km SSE of this epicentre
- 6.3 The 1906 Imperial Valley, California Earthquake · 10 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 32.8182, -115.4583. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperial County, CA | 27 km (17 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| Riverside County, CA | 113 km (70 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Riverside County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
54 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 13km NNW of Westmorland, CA
- 2.1 6km NNE of Progreso, B.C., MX
- 2.9 12km WNW of Calipatria, CA
- 3.5 12km WNW of Calipatria, CA
- 2.1 5km SSW of Brawley, CA
- 1.7 6km S of Brawley, CA
- 1.7 6km SSW of Brawley, CA
- 1.6 2km NNW of El Centro, CA
- 1.7 8km NNE of Imperial, CA
- 1.6 9km WSW of Niland, CA
- 2.5 10km WSW of Niland, CA
- 1.8 9km WSW of Niland, CA
- 1.7 9km WSW of Niland, CA
- 2.3 9km NW of Delta, B.C., MX
- 1.7 9km WSW of Niland, 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.