Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Imperial, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Imperial in the 24 hours to 7:41 am PST (15:41 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 3 km (2 mi) southwest of Imperial, CA, at 1:27 pm PDT on 9 July 2022 (20:27 UTC), 11 km deep.
USGS: 3km SW of Imperial, CA
- When
- 1:27 pm PDT on 9 July 2022 ()
- Where
- 3 km (2 mi) southwest of Imperial, CA · earthquakes near Imperial
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Imperial County, 33 km NE
- 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 1584 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Imperial, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Imperial, 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Imperial, 3 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: El Centro, Seeley, Heber, Brawley, Calexico, Holtville.
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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
- 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 5.3 on 2021-06-05 — about 410,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 40 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.9 The 1940 Imperial Valley, California Earthquake · 20 km E of this epicentre
- 6.6 The 1942 Fish Creek Mountains, California Earthquake · 24 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.6 The 1987 Superstition Hills, California Earthquake · 31 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.4 The 1979 Imperial Valley Earthquake, California-Baja California · 29 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.3 The 1906 Imperial Valley, California Earthquake · 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 32.8307, -115.5975. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperial County, CA | 33 km (20 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| Riverside County, CA | 107 km (66 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| San Diego County, CA | 112 km (70 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near San Diego County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
30 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 1km WSW of Brawley, CA
- 1.9 10km W of Progreso, B.C., MX
- 1.6 5km WSW of Niland, CA
- 1.6 8km WSW of Progreso, B.C., MX
- 1.6 7km SW of Holtville, CA
- 1.8 9km S of Progreso, B.C., MX
- 1.7 7km WSW of El Centro, CA
- 1.7 16km SE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 2.4 12km WNW of Calipatria, CA
- 2.0 5km SW of Niland, CA
- 1.9 7km WSW of Progreso, B.C., MX
- 1.7 7km SW of Holtville, CA
- 2.0 7km WSW of Progreso, B.C., MX
- 1.6 15km NW of Progreso, B.C., MX
- 1.8 12km WNW of Calipatria, 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.