Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Indio, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Indio in the 24 hours to 10:13 am PST (18:13 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 36 km (22 mi) east-southeast of Indio, CA, at 2:00 pm PDT on 25 August 2020 (21:00 UTC), 4.4 km deep.
USGS: 6km ENE of North Shore, CA
38 km (24 mi) ESE of Indio, CA · 142 km (88 mi) NE of San Diego, CA
- When
- 2:00 pm PDT on 25 August 2020 ()
- Where
- 36 km (22 mi) east-southeast of Indio, CA · earthquakes near Indio
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 4.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Riverside County, 22 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Hidden Spring fault, 2 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 2267 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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Indio, 36 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, Desert Shores, Oasis, Thermal, Salton City.
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 4.6 on 2020-08-10 — about 33,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.6 The 1968 Borrego Mountain, California Earthquake · 46 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.4 The 1954 San Jacinto Fault, California Earthquake · 34 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 38 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.7 Eastern San Diego County, California · 44 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.6 6km WNW of Niland, CA · 43 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 33.5527, -115.8873. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County, CA | 22 km (14 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Imperial County, CA | 75 km (47 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| San Diego County, CA | 101 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
24 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 14km WNW of Calipatria, CA
- 1.8 10km NE of Borrego Springs, CA
- 1.6 15km N of Borrego Springs, CA
- 2.4 18km ENE of North Shore, CA
- 1.5 29km NE of Indio, CA
- 1.5 4km SW of Salton City, CA
- 1.5 10km NNE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 2.1 11km NE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.8 8km NE of Indio, CA
- 1.6 10km NNE of Borrego Springs, CA
- 1.5 10km SW of Niland, CA
- 1.6 11km NW of Calipatria, CA
- 2.0 10km WNW of Calipatria, CA
- 1.8 10km SW of Niland, CA
- 1.6 12km WNW of Calipatria, 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.