QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9ml

28 km SSW of Ocotillo Wells, CA

· 8.5 km deep · released about 750 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Diego County 52 kmImperial County 84 kmRiverside County 93 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
Magnitude
M 2.9 (ml)
Depth
8.5 km below the surface
Felt
7 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
San Diego County, 52 km WNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 837 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 7 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 750 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 20,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 14,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.3× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 750 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.

Where

Epicentre 32.9130, -116.2400. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
San Diego County, CA 52 km (32 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near San Diego County
Imperial County, CA 84 km (52 mi) W of here earthquakes near Imperial County
Riverside County, CA 93 km (58 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Riverside County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 28 km SSW of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  2. 1.9 19 km ESE of Ocotillo, CA
  3. 1.8 4 km NE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  4. 1.5 17 km SW of Oasis, CA
  5. 1.6 11 km NNE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  6. 2.2 6 km E of Borrego Springs, CA
  7. 1.8 6 km WNW of Borrego Springs, CA
  8. 1.8 17 km SE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  9. 2.0 12 km ENE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  10. 2.0 11 km NE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  11. 1.6 17 km SE of Ocotillo, CA
  12. 3.5 6 km W of Borrego Springs, CA
  13. 2.0 10 km SW of Salton City, CA
  14. 1.6 18 km SE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
  15. 1.5 17 km SE of Ocotillo Wells, 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.8 on 2023-12-01 — it released about 640 times the energy of this one.

From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.