Earthquake near Twentynine Palms, CA

This was a light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 112 km (70 mi) from the epicentre. In Twentynine Palms, 15 km away, the estimate is intensity IV (light). 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: Twentynine Palms 15 km, intensity IV · Joshua Tree 29 km, intensity III · Indio 35 km, intensity III · Coachella 37 km, intensity III · Thousand Palms 37 km, intensity III · Yucca Valley 38 km, intensity III · Desert Hot Springs 42 km, intensity III · Palm Desert 43 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 30 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 5,600× the energy of this one
2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 250× the energy of this one
3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 180× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 4.2 about 30 tons of TNT
5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 63× 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 (31 mi) since our catalogue begins in 2016. No other earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded this close in that time.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 20 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 43 km WNW of this epicentre Jun 28, 1992
2. 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 25 km W of this epicentre Apr 23, 1992
3. 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 26 km W of this epicentre Dec 4, 1948
4. 5.8 3km NE of Yucca Valley, California · 37 km WNW of this epicentre Jun 28, 1992
5. 5.7 38km ESE of Twentynine Palms, CA · 32 km E of this epicentre May 2, 1949

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 33.9967, -116.0450. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 1.9 10km S of Joshua Tree, CA 10:42 UTC
2. 1.6 11km NE of Indio, CA 14:35 UTC
3. 1.7 3km SE of Yucca Valley, CA 22:09 UTC
4. 1.6 16km N of Indio, CA 11:09 UTC
5. 1.6 15km N of Yucca Valley, CA 23:15 UTC
6. 1.8 16km NE of Indio, CA 19:39 UTC
7. 1.9 16km N of Yucca Valley, CA 14:08 UTC
8. 1.5 16km N of Yucca Valley, CA 13:41 UTC
9. 1.6 17km N of Indio, CA 11:44 UTC
10. 2.1 17 km N of Indio, CA 06:27 UTC
11. 2.1 16 km N of Indio, CA 19:21 UTC
12. 1.7 17km N of Indio, CA 17:17 UTC
13. 3.1 17km N of Indio, CA 23:18 UTC
14. 1.7 16 km N of Indio, CA 22:24 UTC
15. 3.5 16km N of Indio, CA 22:07 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 22:04 UTC. 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.