QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Joshua Tree, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Joshua Tree in the 24 hours to 7:06 am PST (15:06 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 17 km (11 mi) S, at 9:51 am PDT on 1 August 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 46 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Joshua Tree

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 14 km (9 mi) south of Joshua Tree, CA, at 12:55 pm PST on 23 December 2023 (20:55 UTC), 4.8 km deep.

USGS: 14 km S of Joshua Tree, CA

97 km (60 mi) E of Riverside, CA · 22 km (14 mi) NNE of Cathedral City, CA

12:55 pm PST, Dec 23, 2023 · · 4.8 km deep · released about 9 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Joshua Tree Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 44 kmSan Bernardino County 95 kmSan Diego County 117 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
12:55 pm PST on 23 December 2023 ()
Where
14 km (9 mi) south of Joshua Tree, CA · earthquakes near Joshua Tree
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
4.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Riverside County, 44 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
Eureka Peak fault, under 1 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 1039 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Joshua Tree, 14 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: Desert Edge, Sky Valley, Yucca Valley, Garnet, Desert Hot Springs, Thousand Palms.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 9 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 9 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 4.5 on 2018-05-08 — about 18,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 28 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 23 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 49 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 6 km SSE of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 3 km SSE of this epicentre
  5. 6.0 The 1986 North Palm Springs, California Earthquake · 25 km W 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 34.0108, -116.3425. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 44 km (28 mi) SE earthquakes near Riverside County
San Bernardino County, CA 95 km (59 mi) N earthquakes near San Bernardino County
San Diego County, CA 117 km (73 mi) SSW earthquakes near San Diego County
Imperial County, CA 141 km (88 mi) SE earthquakes near Imperial County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 24 km ENE of Thermal, CA
  2. 2.0 6 km E of Cabazon, CA
  3. 1.6 11 km SE of Cabazon, CA
  4. 1.8 10 km ENE of Desert Hot Springs, CA
  5. 1.6 12 km SW of Morongo Valley, CA
  6. 1.6 12 km W of Morongo Valley, CA
  7. 1.7 37 km N of Yucca Valley, CA
  8. 2.7 10 km NNE of Indio, CA
  9. 1.6 6 km E of Cabazon, CA
  10. 2.2 11 km NE of Cabazon, CA
  11. 1.6 10 km NNW of Cabazon, CA
  12. 1.9 7 km E of Cabazon, CA
  13. 2.1 16 km NNE of Thousand Palms, CA
  14. 1.8 7 km NNE of Banning, CA
  15. 2.1 10 km NNE 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.