QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Garnet, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Garnet in the 24 hours to 7:53 am PST (15:53 UTC). The last one was M 3.6, 60 km (37 mi) SSW, at 12:31 am PDT on 19 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 165 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Garnet

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) southwest of Garnet, CA, at 10:22 pm PDT on 24 May 2022 (05:22 UTC), 12 km deep.

USGS: 3km SSE of Garnet, CA

8 km (5 mi) WNW of Cathedral City, CA · 130 km (81 mi) NNE of San Diego, CA

10:22 pm PDT, May 24, 2022 · · 12 km deep · released about 5.6 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 52 kmSan Diego County 97 kmSan Bernardino County 114 kmOrange County 117 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
10:22 pm PDT on 24 May 2022 ()
Where
8 km (5 mi) southwest of Garnet, CA · earthquakes near Garnet
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Riverside County, 52 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, 2 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 1632 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Garnet, 8 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: Palm Springs, Desert Hot Springs, Desert Edge, Cathedral City, Thousand Palms, Sky Valley.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.6 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,700,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.6 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 330,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 31 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 38 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.7 The 1918 San Jacinto, California Earthquake · 42 km WSW of this epicentre
  3. 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 45 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 22 km ENE of this epicentre
  5. 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 23 km ENE 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 33.8730, -116.5368. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 52 km (32 mi) ESE earthquakes near Riverside County
San Diego County, CA 97 km (60 mi) SSW earthquakes near San Diego County
San Bernardino County, CA 114 km (71 mi) NNE earthquakes near San Bernardino County
Orange County, CA 117 km (73 mi) W earthquakes near Orange County
Imperial County, CA 143 km (89 mi) SE earthquakes near Imperial County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 5km S of Beaumont, CA
  2. 1.6 6km SE of Valle Vista, CA
  3. 2.1 22km SSW of La Quinta, CA
  4. 2.4 11km NE of Cabazon, CA
  5. 1.6 12km SSW of Idyllwild, CA
  6. 1.6 16km ESE of Anza, CA
  7. 1.8 10km SSE of Idyllwild, CA
  8. 1.9 10km SW of Idyllwild, CA
  9. 1.7 16km S of Joshua Tree, CA
  10. 2.0 16km NE of Coachella, CA
  11. 2.0 14km ESE of Anza, CA
  12. 1.6 6km NE of San Jacinto, CA
  13. 1.6 10km N of Banning, CA
  14. 2.2 13km WNW of Anza, CA
  15. 1.8 10km SSW of Idyllwild, 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.