Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
15km SE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- When
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Imperial County, 62 km E
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2028 days ago
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.9 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,800,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 160× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.9 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 33.0475, -116.0163. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperial County, CA | 62 km (38 mi) | W of here | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| San Diego County, CA | 71 km (44 mi) | E of here | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Riverside County, CA | 76 km (47 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
52 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 15km E of Ocotillo, CA
- 1.7 16km E of Ocotillo, CA
- 1.5 14km SW of Borrego Springs, CA
- 1.7 24km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.9 22km E of Pine Valley, CA
- 1.6 12km SW of Salton City, CA
- 1.7 4km WSW of Salton City, CA
- 1.8 17km SE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 2.2 17km ESE of Julian, CA
- 1.7 5km WSW of Salton City, CA
- 3.1 16km ESE of Julian, CA
- 1.7 12km WNW of Calipatria, CA
- 1.6 10km SW of Niland, CA
- 1.7 12km WNW of Calipatria, CA
- 1.9 12km WNW of Calipatria, 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 4.9 on 2020-10-01 — it released about 130,000 times the energy of this one.
From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.
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.