Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Brawley, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Brawley in the 24 hours to 1:15 pm PST (21:15 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 69 km (43 mi) SSE, at 10:27 am PST on 3 November 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 321 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Brawley
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded in Brawley, CA, at 1:09 am PDT on 8 August 2023 (08:09 UTC), 7.4 km deep.
USGS: 0 km W of Brawley, CA
- When
- 1:09 am PDT on 8 August 2023 ()
- Where
- in Brawley, CA · earthquakes near Brawley
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Imperial County, 18 km ENE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Brawley Seismic Zone, 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 1192 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Brawley, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Brawley, 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. 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.
Likely felt in: Brawley in town, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.9 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 2,500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,800,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 160× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.9 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 5.3 on 2021-06-05 — about 380,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 36 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.9 The 1940 Imperial Valley, California Earthquake · 21 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.6 The 1942 Fish Creek Mountains, California Earthquake · 23 km W of this epicentre
- 6.6 The 1987 Superstition Hills, California Earthquake · 30 km W of this epicentre
- 6.4 The 1979 Imperial Valley Earthquake, California-Baja California · 38 km SSE of this epicentre
- 6.3 The 1906 Imperial Valley, California Earthquake · 9 km SSE 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 32.9792, -115.5357. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperial County, CA | 18 km (11 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| Riverside County, CA | 94 km (58 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| San Diego County, CA | 116 km (72 mi) | W | earthquakes near San Diego County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
56 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.6 8 km W of Calipatria, CA
- 1.9 18 km NW of Progreso, B.C., MX
- 1.5 1 km ENE of Westmorland, CA
- 1.6 2 km ESE of Bombay Beach, CA
- 2.0 2 km ESE of Bombay Beach, CA
- 1.5 8 km W of Calipatria, CA
- 1.6 13 km WNW of Calipatria, CA
- 2.1 13 km WNW of Calipatria, CA
- 1.6 13 km WNW of Calipatria, CA
- 2.0 12 km WNW of Calipatria, CA
- 1.5 13 km WNW of Calipatria, CA
- 1.8 14 km WNW of Calipatria, CA
- 1.8 13 km WNW of Calipatria, CA
- 1.7 14 km WNW of Calipatria, CA
- 2.2 13 km 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.