QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.5ml

Earthquake near Salton City, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Salton City in the 24 hours to 12:07 pm PST (20:07 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 3.5 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) west-southwest of Salton City, CA, at 6:30 pm PDT on 6 July 2022 (01:30 UTC), 9.6 km deep. 14 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 10km NNE of Ocotillo Wells, CA

57 km (35 mi) SSE of Indio, CA · 107 km (66 mi) ENE of San Diego, CA

6:30 pm PDT, Jul 6, 2022 · · 9.6 km deep · released about 3.1 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Salton City Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 56 kmSan Diego County 66 kmImperial County 73 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
6:30 pm PDT on 6 July 2022 ()
Where
16 km (10 mi) west-southwest of Salton City, CA · earthquakes near Salton City
Magnitude
M 3.5 (ml)
Depth
9.6 km below the surface
Felt
14 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Measured shaking
intensity III (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Riverside County, 56 km N
Nearest mapped fault
San Jacinto 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 1522 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 65 km (40 mi) from the epicentre. In Salton City, 16 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.

Likely felt in: Salton City 16 km, intensity III · Borrego Springs 25 km, intensity III · Mecca 38 km, intensity II · Julian 49 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 3.1 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 55,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.5 about 3.1 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 6.5× more

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 370 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 24 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.6 The 1942 Fish Creek Mountains, California Earthquake · 41 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 6.6 The 1968 Borrego Mountain, California Earthquake · 6 km S of this epicentre
  3. 6.6 The 1987 Superstition Hills, California Earthquake · 34 km SE of this epicentre
  4. 6.4 The 1954 San Jacinto Fault, California Earthquake · 8 km NNE of this epicentre
  5. 6.2 The 1987 Elmore Ranch, California Earthquake · 33 km ESE 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 33.2308, -116.1063. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 56 km (35 mi) N earthquakes near Riverside County
San Diego County, CA 66 km (41 mi) WSW earthquakes near San Diego County
Imperial County, CA 73 km (45 mi) ESE earthquakes near Imperial County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 4km SSW of Salton City, CA
  2. 1.5 4km SW of Salton City, CA
  3. 1.8 12km WNW of Calipatria, CA
  4. 1.9 9km SW of Niland, CA
  5. 1.6 10km SSW of Salton City, CA
  6. 2.1 10km SSW of Salton City, CA
  7. 1.8 10km SSW of Salton City, CA
  8. 1.9 4km SSW of Salton City, CA
  9. 2.1 22km SSW of La Quinta, CA
  10. 1.8 7km WSW of Niland, CA
  11. 1.8 4km SW of Salton City, CA
  12. 2.6 4km SW of Salton City, CA
  13. 1.9 4km SSW of Salton City, CA
  14. 1.6 8km NNE of Borrego Springs, CA
  15. 1.6 4km SSW of Salton City, 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.