Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Thermal, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Thermal in the 24 hours to 8:42 am PST (16:42 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 162 km (100 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 Thermal
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 26 km (16 mi) east-northeast of Thermal, CA, at 6:28 am PDT on 5 May 2020 (13:28 UTC), 6.8 km deep.
USGS: 26km ENE of Thermal, CA
31 km (19 mi) E of Indio, CA · 139 km (87 mi) E of Riverside, CA
- When
- 6:28 am PDT on 5 May 2020 ()
- Where
- 26 km (16 mi) east-northeast of Thermal, CA · earthquakes near Thermal
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 6.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Riverside County, 10 km WSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Mecca Hills fault, 17 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 2382 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Thermal, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Thermal, 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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Thermal, 26 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Mecca, Coachella, Indio.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.7 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 2,600,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.7 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 10,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 45 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 47 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.7 38km ESE of Twentynine Palms, CA · 33 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.5 15 km SSE of Twentynine Palms, California · 29 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.2 11km S of Joshua Tree, CA · 49 km NW 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 33.7542, -115.9000. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County, CA | 10 km (6 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Imperial County, CA | 94 km (58 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| San Diego County, CA | 115 km (71 mi) | SW | earthquakes near San Diego County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
24 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 11km S of Joshua Tree, CA
- 2.4 18km ENE of North Shore, CA
- 1.5 29km NE of Indio, CA
- 1.8 8km NE of Indio, CA
- 1.6 6km ENE of North Shore, CA
- 2.0 5km ENE of North Shore, CA
- 2.1 9km NE of Indio, CA
- 1.9 23km SSE of Twentynine Palms, CA
- 1.7 24km SSE of Twentynine Palms, CA
- 1.7 24km SSE of Twentynine Palms, CA
- 1.8 24km SSE of Twentynine Palms, CA
- 2.3 5km ENE of North Shore, CA
- 1.5 5km ENE of North Shore, CA
- 2.0 5km ENE of North Shore, CA
- 2.9 3km W of Bombay Beach, 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.