Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Palm Desert, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Palm Desert in the 24 hours to 5:15 am PST (13:15 UTC). The last one was M 3.1, 26 km (16 mi) SSW, at 5:01 pm PDT on 30 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 8 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Palm Desert
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 41 km (25 mi) south-southwest of Palm Desert, CA, at 10:59 am PDT on 15 April 2022 (17:59 UTC), 11 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 14km N of Warner Springs, CA
82 km (51 mi) NE of San Diego, CA · 43 km (27 mi) SSW of Palm Desert, CA
- When
- 10:59 am PDT on 15 April 2022 ()
- Where
- 41 km (25 mi) south-southwest of Palm Desert, CA · earthquakes near Palm Desert
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- 1 report
- Nearest
- San Diego County, 46 km SSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Jacinto 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 1672 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Palm Desert, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Palm Desert, CA. No account or email needed.
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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 3 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Palm Desert, 41 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Anza, Aguanga, Borrego Springs.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 8.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.4 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 220,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 33 km E of this epicentre
- 5.5 1km ENE of Borrego Springs, CA · 29 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.4 20km NNW of Borrego Springs, CA · 12 km E of this epicentre
- 5.3 6km SSE of Hemet, CA · 45 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.3 18km ESE of Anza, CA · 12 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 33.4105, -116.6087. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego County, CA | 46 km (28 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Riverside County, CA | 66 km (41 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Orange County, CA | 112 km (70 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Imperial County, CA | 124 km (77 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 4km SSW of Palomar Observatory, CA
- 1.6 5km SSW of Warner Springs, CA
- 1.5 11km ENE of Aguanga, CA
- 1.9 6km SSW of Warner Springs, CA
- 1.7 6km SSW of Warner Springs, CA
- 1.9 5km SSW of Warner Springs, CA
- 3.7 6km SSW of Warner Springs, CA
- 2.1 17km ENE of Borrego Springs, CA
- 1.5 22km ESE of Anza, CA
- 1.5 22km ESE of Anza, CA
- 1.6 9km N of Anza, CA
- 1.6 8km NNW of Anza, CA
- 1.5 10km SW of Idyllwild, CA
- 2.2 11km SE of Valle Vista, CA
- 2.3 6km SSW of Palomar Observatory, 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.