QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6ml

Earthquake near La Quinta, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in La Quinta in the 24 hours to 10:23 am PST (18:23 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 La Quinta

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) south of La Quinta, CA, at 6:26 pm PST on 10 January 2019 (02:26 UTC), 13 km deep. 15 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 16km S of La Quinta, CA

24 km (15 mi) S of Palm Desert, CA · 109 km (68 mi) NE of San Diego, CA

6:26 pm PST, Jan 10, 2019 · · 13 km deep · released about 280 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near La Quinta Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 38 kmSan Diego County 69 kmImperial County 105 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
6:26 pm PST on 10 January 2019 ()
Where
16 km (10 mi) south of La Quinta, CA · earthquakes near La Quinta
Magnitude
M 2.6 (ml)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
15 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Riverside County, 38 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
San Jacinto fault, 8 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 2862 days ago

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 21 km (13 mi) from the epicentre. In La Quinta, 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.

Likely felt in: La Quinta 16 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 280 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 55,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 39,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.5× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 280 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 6,700 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.6 The 1968 Borrego Mountain, California Earthquake · 44 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 The 1954 San Jacinto Fault, California Earthquake · 34 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 49 km N of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 16 km SSE of this epicentre
  5. 5.7 Eastern San Diego County, California · 42 km SSE 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 33.5227, -116.3307. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 38 km (24 mi) NE earthquakes near Riverside County
San Diego County, CA 69 km (43 mi) SW earthquakes near San Diego County
Imperial County, CA 105 km (65 mi) ESE earthquakes near Imperial County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

47 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.6 9km NE of Aguanga, CA
  2. 1.7 8km ENE of Aguanga, CA
  3. 1.6 11km NE of Borrego Springs, CA
  4. 2.5 16km NNE of Borrego Springs, CA
  5. 2.4 7km ENE of Aguanga, CA
  6. 1.9 19km ENE of Borrego Springs, CA
  7. 1.6 9km NE of Aguanga, CA
  8. 1.5 6km SW of Idyllwild, CA
  9. 1.8 14km SSE of Anza, CA
  10. 2.5 9km NE of Aguanga, CA
  11. 1.9 18km S of La Quinta, CA
  12. 1.9 5km NNE of Palm Springs, CA
  13. 1.6 9km NE of Aguanga, CA
  14. 1.6 9km NE of Aguanga, CA
  15. 1.9 8km NNW of Anza, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.