QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7ml

Earthquake near Twentynine Palms, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Twentynine Palms in the 24 hours to 5:54 pm PST (01:54 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 30 km (19 mi) SW, at 9:51 am PDT on 1 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 46 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Twentynine Palms

This page: a magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 42 km (26 mi) east-southeast of Twentynine Palms, CA, at 8:53 pm PDT on 11 April 2023 (03:53 UTC), 5.4 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 35km NW of Desert Center, CA

58 km (36 mi) ENE of Indio, CA · 142 km (88 mi) E of Moreno Valley, CA

8:53 pm PDT, Apr 11, 2023 · · 5.4 km deep · released about 290 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Twentynine Palms Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 39 kmImperial County 104 kmSan Bernardino County 112 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
8:53 pm PDT on 11 April 2023 ()
Where
42 km (26 mi) east-southeast of Twentynine Palms, CA · earthquakes near Twentynine Palms
Magnitude
M 2.7 (ml)
Depth
5.4 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Riverside County, 39 km SW
Nearest mapped fault
Pinto Mountain fault (includes Morongo Valley fault), 23 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 1244 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 24 km (15 mi) from the epicentre. In Twentynine Palms, 42 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 290 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 51,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 36,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.7 about 290 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 200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.7 38km ESE of Twentynine Palms, CA · 7 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 15 km SSE of Twentynine Palms, California · 32 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 22km SSW of Amboy, CA · 49 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 15 km SSE of Twentynine Palms, California · 32 km WNW 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 33.9440, -115.6633. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 39 km (24 mi) SW earthquakes near Riverside County
Imperial County, CA 104 km (65 mi) SSE earthquakes near Imperial County
San Bernardino County, CA 112 km (70 mi) NNW earthquakes near San Bernardino County
San Diego County, CA 145 km (90 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

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

  1. 1.6 17 km NE of Thermal, CA
  2. 1.6 24 km ENE of Thermal, CA
  3. 1.6 24 km ENE of Thermal, CA
  4. 1.9 17 km NE of Coachella, CA
  5. 1.5 15 km ENE of Coachella, CA
  6. 1.7 23 km SSE of Twentynine Palms, CA
  7. 3.4 12 km NE of Indio, CA
  8. 1.9 12 km NE of Indio, CA
  9. 1.5 9 km NE of Indio, CA
  10. 2.4 12 km NE of Coachella, CA
  11. 1.8 15 km ENE of Coachella, CA
  12. 1.6 24 km ENE of Thermal, CA
  13. 3.0 26 km WNW of Desert Center, CA
  14. 1.7 25 km WNW of Desert Center, CA
  15. 1.9 37 km NNE of North Shore, 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.