QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

3km SW of Ocotillo, CA

· 11 km deep · released about 12 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Imperial County 71 kmSan Diego County 79 kmRiverside County 113 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
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
3 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Imperial County, 71 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2351 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 3 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 12 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 870,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 78× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 12 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.

Where

Epicentre 32.7170, -116.0168. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Imperial County, CA 71 km (44 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Imperial County
San Diego County, CA 79 km (49 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near San Diego County
Riverside County, CA 113 km (70 mi) S of here earthquakes near Riverside County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.3 15km N of Ocotillo, CA
  2. 1.6 18km SE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  3. 1.6 18km SE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  4. 3.3 18km SE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  5. 1.9 13km E of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  6. 1.6 18km SE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  7. 2.7 17km SE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  8. 2.0 17km SSE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  9. 1.6 18km SE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  10. 2.3 17km SSE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  11. 1.5 19km E of Ocotillo, CA
  12. 1.6 17km SE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  13. 1.5 18km SE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  14. 1.9 18km SE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  15. 1.8 18km SE 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.0 on 2016-07-31 — it released about 2,700 times the energy of this one.

From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.