QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Thermal, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Thermal in the 24 hours to 1:16 pm PST (21:16 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 162 km (100 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 Thermal

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 24 km (15 mi) east-northeast of Thermal, CA, at 8:32 pm PDT on 4 October 2022 (03:32 UTC), 6.1 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 24km ENE of Thermal, CA

29 km (18 mi) E of Indio, CA · 138 km (86 mi) E of Riverside, CA

8:32 pm PDT, Oct 4, 2022 · · 6.1 km deep · released about 16 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Thermal Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 8 kmImperial County 95 kmSan Diego County 113 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
8:32 pm PDT on 4 October 2022 ()
Where
24 km (15 mi) east-northeast of Thermal, CA · earthquakes near Thermal
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
6.1 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Riverside County, 8 km WSW
Nearest mapped fault
Mecca Hills fault, 15 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 1499 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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Thermal, 24 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: Mecca, Coachella, Indio.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 16 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 930,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 660,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 59× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 16 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 4.2 on 2019-07-22 — about 3,700 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 44 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 50 km SW of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 46 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 5.7 38km ESE of Twentynine Palms, CA · 35 km NE of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 15 km SSE of Twentynine Palms, California · 29 km NNW 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 33.7498, -115.9182. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 8 km (5 mi) WSW earthquakes near Riverside County
Imperial County, CA 95 km (59 mi) SSE earthquakes near Imperial County
San Diego County, CA 113 km (70 mi) SW earthquakes near San Diego County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 14km ENE of Thousand Palms, CA
  2. 1.6 14km ENE of Thousand Palms, CA
  3. 1.7 12km NE of Indio, CA
  4. 2.2 14km ENE of Thousand Palms, CA
  5. 2.3 23km NE of Thermal, CA
  6. 2.0 6km NE of Indio, CA
  7. 1.9 7km ENE of Thousand Palms, CA
  8. 1.8 7km ENE of Thousand Palms, CA
  9. 2.5 14km NNE of Thousand Palms, CA
  10. 2.5 9km NE of Indio, CA
  11. 1.7 10km E of Thermal, CA
  12. 1.9 2km ESE of Bombay Beach, CA
  13. 1.8 15km ENE of Indio, CA
  14. 2.3 5km WNW of Bombay Beach, CA
  15. 2.0 15km ENE of Indio, 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.