QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Twentynine Palms, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Twentynine Palms in the 24 hours to 12:58 pm PST (20:58 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 30 km (19 mi) SW, at 9:51 am PDT on 1 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 46 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Twentynine Palms

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 26 km (16 mi) north-northwest of Twentynine Palms, CA, at 9:42 am PDT on 18 September 2019 (16:42 UTC), 1.6 km deep.

USGS: 25km NNW of Twentynine Palms, CA

9:42 am PDT, Sep 18, 2019 · · 1.6 km deep · released about 6.8 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Twentynine Palms Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Bernardino County 56 kmRiverside County 71 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
9:42 am PDT on 18 September 2019 ()
Where
26 km (16 mi) north-northwest of Twentynine Palms, CA · earthquakes near Twentynine Palms
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
1.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Bernardino County, 56 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Pisgah-Bullion fault, 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 2612 days ago

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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Twentynine Palms, 26 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: Joshua Tree.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.8 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.8 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 8,800 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 28 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 32 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 7.1 The 1999 Hector Mine, California Earthquake · 30 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 47 km SSW of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 45 km SSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 3km NE of Yucca Valley, California · 35 km SW 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 34.3535, -116.1425. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Bernardino County, CA 56 km (35 mi) N earthquakes near San Bernardino County
Riverside County, CA 71 km (44 mi) S earthquakes near Riverside County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 18km S of Joshua Tree, CA
  2. 1.6 18km S of Joshua Tree, CA
  3. 2.6 18km S of Joshua Tree, CA
  4. 1.9 18km S of Joshua Tree, CA
  5. 2.6 18km S of Joshua Tree, CA
  6. 1.7 14km N of Joshua Tree, CA
  7. 1.8 29km N of Yucca Valley, CA
  8. 1.6 26km N of Yucca Valley, CA
  9. 1.5 22km N of Yucca Valley, CA
  10. 2.1 17km S of Joshua Tree, CA
  11. 2.3 10km SE of Yucca Valley, CA
  12. 1.5 40km WSW of Ludlow, CA
  13. 1.6 8km SE of Yucca Valley, CA
  14. 1.5 40km SW of Ludlow, CA
  15. 2.0 3km E of Yucca Valley, 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.