QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3ml

Earthquake near Salton City, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Salton City in the 24 hours to 12:31 pm PST (20:31 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 121 km (75 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 Salton City

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) south-southwest of Salton City, CA, at 9:19 am PDT on 7 June 2020 (16:19 UTC), 7.6 km deep.

USGS: 13km E of Ocotillo Wells, CA

9:19 am PDT, Jun 7, 2020 · · 7.6 km deep · released about 82 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Salton City Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Imperial County 61 kmRiverside County 63 kmSan Diego County 74 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
9:19 am PDT on 7 June 2020 ()
Where
16 km (10 mi) south-southwest of Salton City, CA · earthquakes near Salton City
Magnitude
M 2.3 (ml)
Depth
7.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Imperial County, 61 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
San Jacinto fault, 1 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 2345 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 18 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Salton City, 16 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.

Likely felt in: Salton City 16 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 82 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 180,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 12× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 82 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 4.5 on 2020-05-10 — about 2,400 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 28 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.6 The 1942 Fish Creek Mountains, California Earthquake · 29 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 6.6 The 1968 Borrego Mountain, California Earthquake · 10 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.6 The 1987 Superstition Hills, California Earthquake · 21 km SE of this epicentre
  4. 6.4 The 1954 San Jacinto Fault, California Earthquake · 17 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 6.2 The 1987 Elmore Ranch, California Earthquake · 21 km ESE 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 33.1613, -115.9968. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Imperial County, CA 61 km (38 mi) ESE earthquakes near Imperial County
Riverside County, CA 63 km (39 mi) N earthquakes near Riverside County
San Diego County, CA 74 km (46 mi) WSW earthquakes near San Diego 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.

  1. 1.6 4km SE of Bombay Beach, CA
  2. 1.5 5km SE of Bombay Beach, CA
  3. 1.8 26km WNW of Ocotillo, CA
  4. 2.0 10km ENE of Borrego Springs, CA
  5. 2.6 6km W of Ocotillo, CA
  6. 1.8 12km SSE of Bombay Beach, CA
  7. 1.7 12km SSE of Bombay Beach, CA
  8. 2.1 5km SE of Bombay Beach, CA
  9. 1.5 5km ENE of North Shore, CA
  10. 2.5 4km N of Westmorland, CA
  11. 2.0 24 km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  12. 2.5 24km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  13. 1.9 13 km SSE of Bombay Beach, CA
  14. 3.7 13km SSE of Bombay Beach, CA
  15. 1.6 11km N of Borrego Springs, 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.