Earthquake near El Centro, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in El Centro in the 24 hours to 12:52 pm PST (20:52 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 54 km (33 mi) SE, at 10:27 am PST on 3 November 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 321 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near El Centro

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 2 km (1 mi) north-northwest of El Centro, CA, at 1:18 am PST on 12 February 2024 (09:18 UTC), 15 km deep. 3 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 3 km NNW of El Centro, CA

1:18 am PST, Feb 12, 2024 · 2024-02-12 09:18 UTC · 15 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near El Centro Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area

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: 1:18 am PST on 12 February 2024 (2024-02-12 09:18 UTC)
Where: 2 km (1 mi) north-northwest of El Centro, CA · earthquakes near El Centro
Magnitude: M 1.7 (ml)
Depth: 15 km below the surface
Felt: 3 reports
Nearest: Imperial County, 32 km NE
Nearest mapped fault: Brawley Seismic Zone, 10 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 996 days ago · we first saw it 996 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In El Centro, 2 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: Imperial, Heber, Seeley, Calexico, Holtville, Brawley.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 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.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 970,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 86× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 200,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 40 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

6.9 The 1940 Imperial Valley, California Earthquake · 18 km ENE of this epicentre May 19, 1940
6.6 The 1942 Fish Creek Mountains, California Earthquake · 27 km NW of this epicentre Oct 21, 1942
6.6 The 1987 Superstition Hills, California Earthquake · 35 km NW of this epicentre Nov 24, 1987
6.4 The 1979 Imperial Valley Earthquake, California-Baja California · 25 km SE of this epicentre Oct 15, 1979
6.3 The 1906 Imperial Valley, California Earthquake · 12 km NNE of this epicentre Apr 19, 1906

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

Map loads when it scrolls into view

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
Imperial County, CA	32 km (20 mi)	NE	earthquakes near Imperial County
Riverside County, CA	110 km (68 mi)	NNW	earthquakes near Riverside County
San Diego County, CA	115 km (72 mi)	WNW	earthquakes near San Diego County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

60 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 20:52 UTC. 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.