Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near Indio, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Indio in the 24 hours to 11:34 am PST (19:34 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 Indio
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 33 km (20 mi) east-southeast of Indio, CA, at 8:59 am PDT on 6 April 2020 (15:59 UTC), 8.3 km deep.
USGS: 6km NNE of North Shore, CA
35 km (22 mi) ESE of Indio, CA · 142 km (88 mi) NE of San Diego, CA
- When
- 8:59 am PDT on 6 April 2020 ()
- Where
- 33 km (20 mi) east-southeast of Indio, CA · earthquakes near Indio
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Riverside County, 19 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Hidden Spring 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 1350 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Indio, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Indio, 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Indio, 33 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, Oasis, Thermal, Desert Shores, Coachella, Vista Santa Rosa.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 9.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 99× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 9.6 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 4.3 on 2016-09-27 — about 9,800 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.6 The 1968 Borrego Mountain, California Earthquake · 48 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.4 The 1954 San Jacinto Fault, California Earthquake · 35 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 37 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.7 Eastern San Diego County, California · 46 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.6 6km WNW of Niland, CA · 47 km SE 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 33.5780, -115.9080. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County, CA | 19 km (12 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Imperial County, CA | 79 km (49 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| San Diego County, CA | 102 km (63 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
23 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 8km NE of Borrego Springs, CA
- 1.6 13km WSW of Niland, CA
- 1.9 9km NNE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.6 13km E of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.9 13km E of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.8 11km NNE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.5 10km ENE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.6 5km WSW of Salton City, CA
- 1.5 10km WSW of Niland, CA
- 2.3 5km NNW of Niland, CA
- 1.8 10km WSW of Niland, CA
- 1.5 26km ENE of Thermal, CA
- 1.5 25km ENE of Thermal, CA
- 1.6 17km SW of Oasis, CA
- 1.6 12km ENE of Indio, 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.