QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Indio, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Indio in the 24 hours to 4:54 am PST (12:54 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 13 km (8 mi) northeast of Indio, CA, at 6:54 pm PST on 7 November 2020 (02:54 UTC), 2.4 km deep.

USGS: 13km NE of Indio, CA

14 km (9 mi) ENE of Indio, CA · 145 km (90 mi) NE of San Diego, CA

6:54 pm PST, Nov 7, 2020 · · 2.4 km deep · released about 8.7 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Indio Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 12 kmSan Diego County 106 kmImperial County 109 kmSan Bernardino County 118 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
6:54 pm PST on 7 November 2020 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) northeast of Indio, CA · earthquakes near Indio
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
2.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Riverside County, 12 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
Coachella Fan 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 2194 days ago

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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Indio, 13 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 8.7 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.7 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 6,900 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 20 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 27 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 46 km SSW of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 30 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 3km NE of Yucca Valley, California · 47 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 5.7 38km ESE of Twentynine Palms, CA · 44 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 33.7935, -116.1055. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 12 km (7 mi) SE earthquakes near Riverside County
San Diego County, CA 106 km (66 mi) SW earthquakes near San Diego County
Imperial County, CA 109 km (68 mi) SE earthquakes near Imperial County
San Bernardino County, CA 118 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

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

  1. 1.6 23km ENE of Thermal, CA
  2. 1.6 4km SSE of Yucca Valley, CA
  3. 2.3 16km ENE of Indio, CA
  4. 1.6 24km ENE of Thermal, CA
  5. 1.8 23km ENE of Thermal, CA
  6. 1.6 13km SW of La Quinta, CA
  7. 1.6 24km ENE of Thermal, CA
  8. 2.5 24km ENE of Thermal, CA
  9. 1.8 23km ENE of Thermal, CA
  10. 2.8 23km ENE of Thermal, CA
  11. 2.4 24km ENE of Thermal, CA
  12. 1.8 24km ENE of Thermal, CA
  13. 1.6 24km ENE of Thermal, CA
  14. 2.4 24km ENE of Thermal, CA
  15. 1.5 24km ENE of Thermal, 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.