QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Mecca, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Mecca in the 24 hours to 7:45 am PST (15:45 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 152 km (94 mi) SSE, at 10:27 am PST on 3 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 321 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Mecca

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 18 km (11 mi) northeast of Mecca, CA, at 10:16 pm PST on 30 November 2023 (06:16 UTC), 2.5 km deep.

USGS: 18 km NE of Mecca, CA

27 km (16 mi) E of Indio, CA · 147 km (91 mi) NE of San Diego, CA

10:16 pm PST, Nov 30, 2023 · · 2.5 km deep · released about 12 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Mecca Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 6 kmImperial County 91 kmSan Diego County 107 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
10:16 pm PST on 30 November 2023 ()
Where
18 km (11 mi) northeast of Mecca, CA · earthquakes near Mecca
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
2.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Riverside County, 6 km NW
Nearest mapped fault
Mecca Hills fault, 9 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 1077 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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Mecca, 18 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: Thermal, Coachella, Indio, Vista Santa Rosa, Oasis.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 12 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 80× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 12 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 4.3 on 2016-09-27 — about 7,900 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 The 1954 San Jacinto Fault, California Earthquake · 46 km SSW of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 45 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 43 km SW of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 47 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 5.7 38km ESE of Twentynine Palms, CA · 41 km NE 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 33.6947, -115.9527. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 6 km (4 mi) NW earthquakes near Riverside County
Imperial County, CA 91 km (57 mi) SE earthquakes near Imperial County
San Diego County, CA 107 km (66 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

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

  1. 1.9 37 km NNE of North Shore, CA
  2. 1.9 5 km ESE of North Shore, CA
  3. 1.5 18 km SSW of Oasis, CA
  4. 2.1 18 km SSW of Oasis, CA
  5. 1.6 17 km ENE of Thousand Palms, CA
  6. 1.7 16 km NE of Borrego Springs, CA
  7. 1.6 14 km NE of Coachella, CA
  8. 2.9 18 km NE of Mecca, CA
  9. 2.3 18 km NE of Mecca, CA
  10. 2.1 14 km E of Desert Hot Springs, CA
  11. 1.6 14 km E of Desert Hot Springs, CA
  12. 1.6 15 km E of Desert Hot Springs, CA
  13. 1.7 21 km ENE of Coachella, CA
  14. 1.7 18 km NE of Mecca, CA
  15. 2.6 18 km NE of Mecca, 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.