Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Indio, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Indio in the 24 hours to 3:31 am PST (11:31 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 12 km (8 mi) northeast of Indio, CA, at 11:54 am PST on 3 February 2020 (19:54 UTC), 6.1 km deep.
USGS: 12km NE of Indio, CA
13 km (8 mi) ENE of Indio, CA · 144 km (90 mi) NE of San Diego, CA
- When
- 11:54 am PST on 3 February 2020 ()
- Where
- 12 km (8 mi) northeast of Indio, CA · earthquakes near Indio
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 6.1 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Riverside County, 12 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Coachella Fan Fault Zone, 4 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 2473 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, 12 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: Coachella, Thermal, Bermuda Dunes, Vista Santa Rosa, Indian Wells, La Quinta.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.1 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.1 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 8,500 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 20 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 27 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 45 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 30 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 3km NE of Yucca Valley, California · 47 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.7 38km ESE of Twentynine Palms, CA · 45 km ENE 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 33.7882, -116.1100. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County, CA | 12 km (7 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| San Diego County, CA | 105 km (65 mi) | SW | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Imperial County, CA | 109 km (68 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 119 km (74 mi) | N | earthquakes near San Bernardino 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.
- 2.3 16km ESE of Anza, CA
- 1.8 17km ESE of Anza, CA
- 1.9 16km ESE of Anza, CA
- 1.8 18km ESE of Anza, CA
- 2.1 18km ESE of Anza, CA
- 2.3 16km ESE of Anza, CA
- 1.9 18km ESE of Anza, CA
- 1.8 17km ESE of Anza, CA
- 2.1 17km ESE of Anza, CA
- 2.1 16km ESE of Anza, CA
- 2.6 17km ESE of Anza, CA
- 2.5 16km ESE of Anza, CA
- 2.0 17km ESE of Anza, CA
- 2.1 17km ESE of Anza, CA
- 2.4 18km ESE of Anza, 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.