Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Thousand Palms, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Thousand Palms in the 24 hours to 4:51 am PST (12:51 UTC). The last one was M 3.1, 36 km (22 mi) S, at 5:01 pm PDT on 30 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 8 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Thousand Palms
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 17 km (11 mi) east-northeast of Thousand Palms, CA, at 12:27 am PDT on 14 April 2020 (07:27 UTC), 4.8 km deep.
USGS: 17km ENE of Thousand Palms, CA
16 km (10 mi) N of Indio, CA · 146 km (90 mi) NE of San Diego, CA
- When
- 12:27 am PDT on 14 April 2020 ()
- Where
- 17 km (11 mi) east-northeast of Thousand Palms, CA · earthquakes near Thousand Palms
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 4.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Riverside County, 26 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Indio Hills Fault Zone, 5 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 2403 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Thousand Palms, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Thousand Palms, 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 Thousand Palms, 17 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: Sky Valley, Bermuda Dunes, Indio, Indian Wells, Desert Edge, Coachella.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.8 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 2,200,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.8 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 8,800 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 24 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 41 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 13 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 16 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1986 North Palm Springs, California Earthquake · 38 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 3km NE of Yucca Valley, California · 33 km NNW 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 33.8768, -116.2202. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County, CA | 26 km (16 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| San Diego County, CA | 108 km (67 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 109 km (68 mi) | N | earthquakes near San Bernardino County |
| Imperial County, CA | 123 km (76 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
28 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 16 km N of Yucca Valley, CA
- 3.0 16km N of Yucca Valley, CA
- 1.8 6km NNE of North Shore, CA
- 1.8 24km ENE of Thermal, CA
- 1.7 18km N of Yucca Valley, CA
- 1.7 10km W of Morongo Valley, CA
- 1.9 23km SSW of La Quinta, CA
- 2.4 18km S of Joshua Tree, CA
- 1.6 18km S of Joshua Tree, CA
- 2.6 18km S of Joshua Tree, CA
- 1.9 11km WSW of Garnet, CA
- 3.1 17km ESE of Anza, CA
- 1.9 18km S of Joshua Tree, CA
- 2.6 18km S of Joshua Tree, CA
- 1.7 14km N of Joshua Tree, 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.