Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Coachella, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Coachella in the 24 hours to 5:45 am PST (13:45 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 167 km (104 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 Coachella
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) east-northeast of Coachella, CA, at 5:56 pm PDT on 2 August 2026 (00:56 UTC), 1.5 km deep.
USGS: 19 km ENE of Coachella, CA
22 km (14 mi) E of Indio, CA · 150 km (93 mi) NE of San Diego, CA
- When
- 5:56 pm PDT on 2 August 2026 ()
- Where
- 19 km (12 mi) east-northeast of Coachella, CA · earthquakes near Coachella
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 1.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Riverside County, 4 km S
- Nearest mapped fault
- Mecca Hills fault, 13 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 101 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Coachella, 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Coachella, 19 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: Thermal, Indio, Mecca, Vista Santa Rosa, Bermuda Dunes.
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 4.9 on 2026-01-20 — about 93,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 36 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 47 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 39 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.7 38km ESE of Twentynine Palms, CA · 38 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.7 2km SSW of Joshua Tree, California · 49 km NW 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 33.7673, -115.9973. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County, CA | 4 km (3 mi) | S | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Imperial County, CA | 100 km (62 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| San Diego County, CA | 110 km (68 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
23 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.0 12 km E of Desert Hot Springs, CA
- 1.6 20 km ENE of Thermal, CA
- 1.3 15 km S of Joshua Tree, CA
- 1.6 14 km S of Joshua Tree, CA
- 1.2 12 km NE of Coachella, CA
- 0.6 11 km NE of Coachella, CA
- 1.0 12 km S of Joshua Tree, CA
- 0.7 9 km NNE of Indio, CA
- 1.0 10 km NE of Thousand Palms, CA
- 0.9 10 km NE of Thousand Palms, CA
- 0.7 10 km NE of Thousand Palms, CA
- 1.1 17 km NNE of Indio, CA
- 0.9 17 km NNE of Indio, CA
- 1.4 19 km N of Indio, CA
- 0.5 15 km E of Desert Hot Springs, 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.