Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.0ml
Earthquake near Mecca, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Mecca in the 24 hours to 9:29 pm PST (05:29 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 152 km (94 mi) SSE, at 10:27 am PST on 3 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 321 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Mecca
This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 48 km (30 mi) northeast of Mecca, CA, at 1:50 am PDT on 21 March 2024 (08:50 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 26 km WNW of Desert Center, CA
55 km (34 mi) E of Indio, CA · 144 km (89 mi) E of Moreno Valley, CA
- When
- 1:50 am PDT on 21 March 2024 ()
- Where
- 48 km (30 mi) northeast of Mecca, CA · earthquakes near Mecca
- Magnitude
- M 3.0 (ml)
- Depth
- -0.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Riverside County, 34 km WSW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 900 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Mecca, CA
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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 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 36 km (22 mi) from the epicentre. In Mecca, 48 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 890 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 380,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 17,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 12,000× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.0 about 890 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 68 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.7 38km ESE of Twentynine Palms, CA · 20 km N of this epicentre
- 5.5 15 km SSE of Twentynine Palms, California · 37 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.0 15 km SSE of Twentynine Palms, California · 37 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 33.8240, -115.6552. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County, CA | 34 km (21 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Imperial County, CA | 91 km (57 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 125 km (77 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near San Bernardino County |
| San Diego County, CA | 137 km (85 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
58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 29 km SE of Twentynine Palms, CA
- 1.9 20 km NW of Desert Center, CA
- 1.6 20 km NW of Desert Center, CA
- 1.9 13 km NNW of Bombay Beach, CA
- 2.8 16 km NE of Coachella, CA
- 2.1 26 km NE of Thermal, CA
- 2.1 20 km NW of Desert Center, CA
- 2.4 21 km NW of Desert Center, CA
- 2.4 16 km NE of Coachella, CA
- 2.0 22 km NE of Thermal, CA
- 1.8 22 km NE of Thermal, CA
- 2.2 22 km NE of Thermal, CA
- 2.1 22 km NE of Thermal, CA
- 2.0 22 km NE of Thermal, CA
- 2.4 26 km NE of Thermal, 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.