QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9ml

Earthquake near Salton City, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Salton City in the 24 hours to 9:31 am PST (17:31 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 121 km (75 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 Salton City

This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 17 km (11 mi) east-northeast of Salton City, CA, at 2:32 pm PDT on 24 September 2022 (21:32 UTC), 3.5 km deep.

USGS: 5km WNW of Bombay Beach, CA

58 km (36 mi) SE of Indio, CA · 140 km (87 mi) ENE of San Diego, CA

2:32 pm PDT, Sep 24, 2022 · · 3.5 km deep · released about 24 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Salton City Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 45 kmImperial County 54 kmSan Diego County 100 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
2:32 pm PDT on 24 September 2022 ()
Where
17 km (11 mi) east-northeast of Salton City, CA · earthquakes near Salton City
Magnitude
M 1.9 (ml)
Depth
3.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Riverside County, 45 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
Extra fault, 4 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 1508 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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Salton City, 17 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: Desert Shores, Niland.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 24 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 640,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 450,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 40× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 24 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 5.3 on 2021-06-05 — about 95,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 23 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.6 The 1942 Fish Creek Mountains, California Earthquake · 43 km S of this epicentre
  2. 6.6 The 1968 Borrego Mountain, California Earthquake · 36 km SW of this epicentre
  3. 6.6 The 1987 Superstition Hills, California Earthquake · 39 km S of this epicentre
  4. 6.4 The 1954 San Jacinto Fault, California Earthquake · 28 km WSW of this epicentre
  5. 6.2 The 1987 Elmore Ranch, California Earthquake · 31 km S 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 33.3650, -115.7875. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 45 km (28 mi) NNW earthquakes near Riverside County
Imperial County, CA 54 km (34 mi) SE earthquakes near Imperial County
San Diego County, CA 100 km (62 mi) WSW earthquakes near San Diego County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 10km SW of Niland, CA
  2. 2.0 10km SW of Niland, CA
  3. 1.6 11km E of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  4. 2.6 11km E of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  5. 1.7 11km ENE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  6. 1.5 11km SW of Niland, CA
  7. 1.7 6km NE of Westmorland, CA
  8. 2.0 16km E of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  9. 1.6 14km WNW of Calipatria, CA
  10. 2.0 24km WSW of Westmorland, CA
  11. 3.0 5km NE of Westmorland, CA
  12. 1.7 9km SE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  13. 1.8 9km SE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  14. 1.5 12km WSW of Salton City, CA
  15. 1.8 7km SE of Bombay Beach, 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.