QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6ml

Earthquake near El Centro, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in El Centro in the 24 hours to 5:12 am PST (13:12 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 54 km (33 mi) SE, at 10:27 am PST on 3 November 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 321 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near El Centro

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 47 km (29 mi) west of El Centro, CA, at 11:16 am PDT on 3 July 2020 (18:16 UTC), 10 km deep.

USGS: 6km W of Ocotillo, CA

11:16 am PDT, Jul 3, 2020 · · 10 km deep · released about 220 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near El Centro Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Imperial County 74 kmSan Diego County 75 kmRiverside County 112 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
11:16 am PDT on 3 July 2020 ()
Where
47 km (29 mi) west of El Centro, CA · earthquakes near El Centro
Magnitude
M 2.6 (ml)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Imperial County, 74 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
Elsinore fault, 10 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 2253 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 21 km (13 mi) from the epicentre. In El Centro, 47 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 220 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 68,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 48,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.3× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 220 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 4.5 on 2020-05-10 — about 870 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.6 The 1942 Fish Creek Mountains, California Earthquake · 37 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.6 The 1987 Superstition Hills, California Earthquake · 37 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 6.2 The 1987 Elmore Ranch, California Earthquake · 47 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 5.7 8km ESE of Ocotillo, CA · 14 km E of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 13km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA · 43 km N 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 32.7260, -116.0557. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Imperial County, CA 74 km (46 mi) ENE earthquakes near Imperial County
San Diego County, CA 75 km (47 mi) WNW earthquakes near San Diego County
Riverside County, CA 112 km (69 mi) N earthquakes near Riverside County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.8 22km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  2. 2.2 23km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  3. 1.5 24km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  4. 2.0 23km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  5. 1.7 23km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  6. 1.8 27km ENE of Pine Valley, CA
  7. 1.6 10km NW of Ocotillo, CA
  8. 1.5 28km ENE of Pine Valley, CA
  9. 1.6 15km SE of Ocotillo, CA
  10. 1.5 14km SW of Westmorland, CA
  11. 2.5 15km NNW of Ocotillo, CA
  12. 1.7 14km NNW of Ocotillo, CA
  13. 1.6 24km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  14. 2.2 24km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  15. 1.9 12km ENE of Ocotillo Wells, 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.