QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Indio, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Indio in the 24 hours to 11:46 am PST (19:46 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 173 km (107 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 Indio

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 45 km (28 mi) southeast of Indio, CA, at 10:56 am PDT on 26 April 2024 (17:56 UTC), 7.2 km deep.

USGS: 12 km ESE of North Shore, CA

48 km (30 mi) SE of Indio, CA · 144 km (89 mi) ENE of San Diego, CA

10:56 am PDT, Apr 26, 2024 · · 7.2 km deep · released about 10 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 32 kmImperial County 65 kmSan Diego County 103 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
10:56 am PDT on 26 April 2024 ()
Where
45 km (28 mi) southeast of Indio, CA · earthquakes near Indio
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
7.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Riverside County, 32 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
Mecca Hills fault, 3 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 930 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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Indio, 45 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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 Shores, Salton City, Mecca, Oasis.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 10 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 95× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 10 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 230,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 15 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.6 The 1968 Borrego Mountain, California Earthquake · 43 km SW of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 The 1954 San Jacinto Fault, California Earthquake · 32 km SW of this epicentre
  3. 6.2 The 1987 Elmore Ranch, California Earthquake · 44 km S of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 41 km WSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 5km N of Westmorland, CA · 48 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 33.4838, -115.8173. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 32 km (20 mi) NNW earthquakes near Riverside County
Imperial County, CA 65 km (41 mi) SE earthquakes near Imperial County
San Diego County, CA 103 km (64 mi) WSW 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. 2.0 12 km SW of Salton City, CA
  2. 2.4 12 km SW of Salton City, CA
  3. 1.7 12 km NNE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  4. 1.6 23 km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  5. 1.6 11 km NNE of Borrego Springs, CA
  6. 2.4 23 km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  7. 1.7 12 km N of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  8. 1.5 12 km SW of Salton City, CA
  9. 1.7 12 km NE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  10. 1.8 11 km ENE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  11. 2.1 13 km WSW of Salton City, CA
  12. 1.8 13 km SSW of Salton City, CA
  13. 2.0 4 km ENE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  14. 3.6 13 km WSW of Salton City, CA
  15. 2.7 13 km WSW of Salton City, 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.