Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.9ml
Earthquake near Coachella, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Coachella in the 24 hours to 7:42 am PST (15:42 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 167 km (104 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 Coachella
This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) northeast of Coachella, CA, at 6:08 am PDT on 23 March 2021 (13:08 UTC), 6.8 km deep.
USGS: 16km NE of Coachella, CA
18 km (11 mi) ENE of Indio, CA · 148 km (92 mi) NE of San Diego, CA
- When
- 6:08 am PDT on 23 March 2021 ()
- Where
- 16 km (10 mi) northeast of Coachella, CA · earthquakes near Coachella
- Magnitude
- M 1.9 (ml)
- Depth
- 6.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Riverside County, 8 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Coachella Fan Fault Zone, 10 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 2060 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Coachella, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Coachella, 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 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 13 km (8 mi) from the epicentre. In Coachella, 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Indio, Thermal, Bermuda Dunes, Vista Santa Rosa, Mecca, La Quinta.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 22 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 680,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 480,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 43× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.9 about 22 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 2,700 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 17 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 31 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 47 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 34 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.7 38km ESE of Twentynine Palms, CA · 40 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.7 2km SSW of Joshua Tree, California · 45 km NW 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 33.7865, -116.0508. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County, CA | 8 km (5 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Imperial County, CA | 105 km (65 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| San Diego County, CA | 108 km (67 mi) | SW | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 120 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
24 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 27km NE of Indio, CA
- 1.7 23km ENE of Thermal, CA
- 1.6 23km ENE of Thermal, CA
- 1.7 12km SSW of Oasis, CA
- 1.8 21km ESE of Anza, CA
- 2.5 23km NNE of Indio, CA
- 1.5 16km ENE of Thermal, CA
- 2.0 30km SE of Twentynine Palms, CA
- 1.9 16km NE of Thousand Palms, CA
- 1.6 10km SSE of Yucca Valley, CA
- 1.8 20km E of Anza, CA
- 2.0 16km NE of Indio, CA
- 1.9 16km NE of Indio, CA
- 2.5 16km NE of Indio, CA
- 2.5 16km NE 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.