Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.5ml
Earthquake near Salton City, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Salton City in the 24 hours to 4:34 am PST (12:34 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 121 km (75 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 Salton City
This page: a magnitude 3.5 earthquake was recorded 14 km (9 mi) southwest of Salton City, CA, at 9:14 am PDT on 8 May 2019 (16:14 UTC), 11 km deep. 14 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 10km NE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
60 km (37 mi) SSE of Indio, CA · 109 km (68 mi) ENE of San Diego, CA
- When
- 9:14 am PDT on 8 May 2019 ()
- Where
- 14 km (9 mi) southwest of Salton City, CA · earthquakes near Salton City
- Magnitude
- M 3.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- 14 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Measured shaking
- intensity VI (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Riverside County, 58 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Jacinto fault, under 1 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 2660 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Salton City, CA
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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 Salton City, 14 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: Salton City 14 km, intensity III · Borrego Springs 29 km, intensity II · Mecca 40 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 2.5 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 68,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 3,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,100× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.5 about 2.5 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 5.2× 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 5.2 on 2016-06-10 — about 370 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 24 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.6 The 1942 Fish Creek Mountains, California Earthquake · 37 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.6 The 1968 Borrego Mountain, California Earthquake · 5 km SW of this epicentre
- 6.6 The 1987 Superstition Hills, California Earthquake · 30 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.4 The 1954 San Jacinto Fault, California Earthquake · 10 km N of this epicentre
- 6.2 The 1987 Elmore Ranch, California Earthquake · 29 km ESE 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 33.2133, -116.0665. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County, CA | 58 km (36 mi) | N | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Imperial County, CA | 69 km (43 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| San Diego County, CA | 69 km (43 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near San Diego County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
45 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 21km N of Borrego Springs, CA
- 1.6 12km SE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.6 14km NNE of Borrego Springs, CA
- 2.6 8km ENE of Julian, CA
- 1.5 9km NNE of Borrego Springs, CA
- 1.6 10km SW of Niland, CA
- 2.0 21km ESE of Anza, CA
- 1.5 19km ESE of Anza, CA
- 1.5 6km NE of Westmorland, CA
- 1.7 5km WNW of Borrego Springs, CA
- 2.0 13km NNE of Borrego Springs, CA
- 2.1 19km ESE of Anza, CA
- 1.6 7km NNE of Borrego Springs, CA
- 1.6 27km SSW of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.7 10km N of Julian, 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.