QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5ml

Earthquake near Indio, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Indio in the 24 hours to 8:31 am PST (16:31 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 2.5 earthquake was recorded 9 km (5 mi) northeast of Indio, CA, at 11:09 pm PDT on 10 September 2023 (06:09 UTC), 5.3 km deep. 42 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 8 km NE of Indio, CA

9 km (6 mi) ENE of Indio, CA · 140 km (87 mi) NE of San Diego, CA

11:09 pm PDT, Sep 10, 2023 · · 5.3 km deep · released about 200 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Indio Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 14 kmSan Diego County 102 kmImperial County 110 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
11:09 pm PDT on 10 September 2023 ()
Where
9 km (5 mi) northeast of Indio, CA · earthquakes near Indio
Magnitude
M 2.5 (ml)
Depth
5.3 km below the surface
Felt
42 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Riverside County, 14 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Coachella Fan Fault Zone, under 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 970 days ago

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 22 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. In Indio, 9 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: Indio 9 km, intensity III · Coachella 10 km, intensity II · La Quinta 19 km, intensity II · Palm Desert 22 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 200 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 75,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 53,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.7× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 200 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 5.2 on 2016-06-10 — about 9,100 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 24 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 26 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 42 km SSW of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 29 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 The 1986 North Palm Springs, California Earthquake · 49 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 3km NE of Yucca Valley, California · 46 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 33.7723, -116.1490. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 14 km (9 mi) ESE earthquakes near Riverside County
San Diego County, CA 102 km (63 mi) SW earthquakes near San Diego County
Imperial County, CA 110 km (68 mi) SE earthquakes near Imperial County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 17 km ESE of Anza, CA
  2. 1.6 14 km S of Joshua Tree, CA
  3. 1.5 14 km SSW of Joshua Tree, CA
  4. 3.0 14 km SSW of Joshua Tree, CA
  5. 1.8 17 km ESE of Anza, CA
  6. 2.1 5 km NE of Anza, CA
  7. 1.8 5 km NE of Anza, CA
  8. 2.0 24 km ESE of Anza, CA
  9. 1.6 14 km SSW of Joshua Tree, CA
  10. 1.6 14 km S of Joshua Tree, CA
  11. 1.7 21 km ENE of Coachella, CA
  12. 1.6 15 km ESE of Anza, CA
  13. 2.4 14 km SE of Yucca Valley, CA
  14. 2.0 14 km SE of Yucca Valley, CA
  15. 3.3 14 km SSW of Joshua Tree, 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.