Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Imperial, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Imperial in the 24 hours to 2:34 pm PST (22:34 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 59 km (37 mi) SE, at 10:27 am PST on 3 November 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 321 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Imperial
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 49 km (31 mi) west of Imperial, CA, at 3:37 pm PST on 25 January 2023 (23:37 UTC), 13 km deep.
USGS: 15km NW of Ocotillo, CA
97 km (60 mi) E of San Diego, CA
- When
- 3:37 pm PST on 25 January 2023 ()
- Where
- 49 km (31 mi) west of Imperial, CA · earthquakes near Imperial
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 13 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Diego County, 67 km WNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Elsinore 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 1386 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Imperial, CA
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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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Imperial, 49 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.9 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,800,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 160× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.9 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 4.5 on 2020-05-10 — about 33,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 15 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.6 The 1942 Fish Creek Mountains, California Earthquake · 33 km ENE of this epicentre
- 6.6 The 1968 Borrego Mountain, California Earthquake · 38 km N of this epicentre
- 6.6 The 1987 Superstition Hills, California Earthquake · 30 km NE of this epicentre
- 6.2 The 1987 Elmore Ranch, California Earthquake · 40 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.7 Eastern San Diego County, California · 40 km N 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 32.8423, -116.0963. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego County, CA | 67 km (41 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Imperial County, CA | 73 km (45 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| Riverside County, CA | 99 km (62 mi) | N | earthquakes near Riverside County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
44 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 25km SE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.6 21km E of Julian, CA
- 1.6 28km SSW of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 2.6 24km SW of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.6 14km E of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.9 15km E of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.6 19km ESE of Julian, CA
- 2.4 14km E of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.9 17km WNW of Progreso, B.C., MX
- 2.1 22km WSW of Westmorland, CA
- 1.5 11km ENE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 2.1 24km ESE of Julian, CA
- 1.7 28km SSW of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.6 12km SW of Salton City, CA
- 1.9 11km S of Borrego Springs, 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.