Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.6mw
Earthquake near Thermal, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Thermal in the 24 hours to 12:48 pm PST (20:48 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 162 km (100 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 Thermal
This page: a magnitude 3.6 earthquake was recorded 23 km (15 mi) east-northeast of Thermal, CA, at 12:25 pm PST on 25 December 2020 (20:25 UTC), 3.7 km deep. 92 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 23km ENE of Thermal, CA
29 km (18 mi) E of Indio, CA · 138 km (85 mi) E of Riverside, CA
- When
- 12:25 pm PST on 25 December 2020 ()
- Where
- 23 km (15 mi) east-northeast of Thermal, CA · earthquakes near Thermal
- Magnitude
- M 3.6 (mw)
- Depth
- 3.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- 92 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Measured shaking
- intensity IV (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Riverside County, 8 km WSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Mecca Hills fault, 15 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 2077 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Thermal, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Thermal, 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 72 km (45 mi) from the epicentre. In Thermal, 23 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Mecca 24 km, intensity III · Coachella 25 km, intensity III · Indio 27 km, intensity III · La Quinta 37 km, intensity II · Palm Desert 42 km, intensity II · Thousand Palms 44 km, intensity II · Twentynine Palms 45 km, intensity II · Salton City 50 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 4.3 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 39,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.6 about 4.3 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 9.1× more
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 6.9 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 44 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 49 km SW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 46 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.7 38km ESE of Twentynine Palms, CA · 35 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.5 15 km SSE of Twentynine Palms, California · 29 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 33.7473, -115.9212. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County, CA | 8 km (5 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Imperial County, CA | 95 km (59 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| San Diego County, CA | 113 km (70 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
41 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 13km NNE of Thousand Palms, CA
- 2.0 16km NE of Coachella, CA
- 1.9 16km NE of Coachella, CA
- 1.5 18km N of Indio, CA
- 1.7 24km ENE of Thermal, CA
- 1.8 10km NE of Indio, CA
- 2.0 10km NNE of Coachella, CA
- 2.1 10km NE of Thousand Palms, CA
- 1.6 12km ENE of Desert Hot Springs, CA
- 1.6 16km NNE of Indio, CA
- 2.0 12km ENE of Thermal, CA
- 1.7 16km ENE of Thousand Palms, CA
- 1.7 16km ENE of Thousand Palms, CA
- 1.6 23km ENE of Thermal, CA
- 2.3 16km ENE of Indio, 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.