Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Brawley, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Brawley in the 24 hours to 2:01 pm PST (22:01 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 7 km (4 mi) east-southeast of Brawley, CA, at 10:35 am PDT on 2 October 2023 (17:35 UTC), 7.6 km deep.
USGS: 7 km ESE of Brawley, CA
- When
- 10:35 am PDT on 2 October 2023 ()
- Where
- 7 km (4 mi) east-southeast of Brawley, CA · earthquakes near Brawley
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Imperial County, 15 km NE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Brawley Seismic Zone, 4 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 1137 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Brawley, 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 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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Brawley, 7 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.
Likely felt in: Brawley 7 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.8 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.8 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 290,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 38 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.9 The 1940 Imperial Valley, California Earthquake · 14 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.6 The 1942 Fish Creek Mountains, California Earthquake · 30 km W of this epicentre
- 6.6 The 1987 Superstition Hills, California Earthquake · 37 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.4 The 1979 Imperial Valley Earthquake, California-Baja California · 32 km SSE of this epicentre
- 6.3 The 1906 Imperial Valley, California Earthquake · 6 km SSW 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 32.9433, -115.4665. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperial County, CA | 15 km (9 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| Riverside County, CA | 101 km (63 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Riverside County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
59 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 8 km SE of Bombay Beach, CA
- 2.6 17 km W of Imperial, CA
- 3.9 16 km W of Imperial, CA
- 1.5 8 km SSW of Holtville, CA
- 1.5 2 km W of Heber, CA
- 2.1 13 km SSW of Bombay Beach, CA
- 1.8 18 km ENE of Ocotillo, CA
- 2.3 5 km NE of Westmorland, CA
- 1.5 14 km WNW of Progreso, B.C., MX
- 1.5 12 km WNW of Calipatria, CA
- 1.8 11 km SW of Niland, CA
- 1.9 17 km S of Salton City, CA
- 1.7 10 km WNW of Westmorland, CA
- 2.3 10 km WNW of Westmorland, CA
- 2.8 10 km WNW of Westmorland, 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.