QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

26km SSW of Ocotillo Wells, CA

· 8.3 km deep · released about 8.4 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Diego County 48 kmImperial County 86 kmRiverside County 91 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
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
8.3 km below the surface
Felt
38 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
San Diego County, 48 km W
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1511 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 38 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 8.4 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 1,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.4 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.

Where

Epicentre 32.9420, -116.2667. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
San Diego County, CA 48 km (30 mi) E of here earthquakes near San Diego County
Imperial County, CA 86 km (53 mi) W of here earthquakes near Imperial County
Riverside County, CA 91 km (57 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Riverside County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 22km E of Julian, CA
  2. 2.3 14km WSW of Westmorland, CA
  3. 1.8 21km E of Julian, CA
  4. 1.6 27km SSW of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  5. 1.6 17km SW of Oasis, CA
  6. 1.9 20km SW of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  7. 1.9 11km ENE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  8. 2.4 17km SW of Oasis, CA
  9. 2.0 12km ENE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  10. 1.9 26km NW of Ocotillo, CA
  11. 1.5 10km WSW of Salton City, CA
  12. 2.1 14km SW of Borrego Springs, CA
  13. 1.9 14km SW of Borrego Springs, CA
  14. 1.7 3km SW of Ocotillo, CA
  15. 1.6 22km NNE of Ocotillo, 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.0 on 2016-07-31 — it released about 4,000 times the energy of this one.

From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.

On USGS

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