QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0ml

Earthquake near Coachella, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Coachella in the 24 hours to 11:51 am PST (19:51 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 3.0 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) northeast of Coachella, CA, at 2:56 am PDT on 22 March 2025 (09:56 UTC), 8.4 km deep. 40 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 13 km NE of Coachella, CA

16 km (10 mi) ENE of Indio, CA · 145 km (90 mi) NE of San Diego, CA

2:56 am PDT, Mar 22, 2025 · · 8.4 km deep · released about 890 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 7 kmImperial County 104 kmSan Diego County 105 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
2:56 am PDT on 22 March 2025 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) northeast of Coachella, CA · earthquakes near Coachella
Magnitude
M 3.0 (ml)
Depth
8.4 km below the surface
Felt
40 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Riverside County, 7 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Coachella Fan Fault Zone, 7 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 239 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 35 km (22 mi) from the epicentre. In Coachella, 13 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Coachella 13 km, intensity III · Indio 14 km, intensity III · Mecca 21 km, intensity II · La Quinta 25 km, intensity II · Palm Desert 29 km, intensity II · Thousand Palms 30 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 890 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 380,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 17,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 12,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 890 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 4.2 on 2019-07-22 — about 68 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 17 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 32 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 16km WSW of Oasis, CA · 44 km SSW of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 35 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 5.7 38km ESE of Twentynine Palms, CA · 43 km NE of this epicentre
  5. 5.7 2km SSW of Joshua Tree, California · 46 km NNW 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 33.7612, -116.0690. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 7 km (4 mi) ESE earthquakes near Riverside County
Imperial County, CA 104 km (65 mi) SE earthquakes near Imperial County
San Diego County, CA 105 km (65 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

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

  1. 1.5 18 km ENE of Thousand Palms, CA
  2. 2.1 18 km ESE of Anza, CA
  3. 1.9 20 km ESE of Anza, CA
  4. 2.0 14 km ENE of Indio, CA
  5. 1.6 17 km ESE of Anza, CA
  6. 2.0 15 km NNE of Borrego Springs, CA
  7. 1.5 15 km ENE of Thousand Palms, CA
  8. 1.5 26 km SSE of Twentynine Palms, CA
  9. 2.0 21 km ESE of Anza, CA
  10. 1.5 17 km N of Indio, CA
  11. 1.5 15 km S of Joshua Tree, CA
  12. 2.4 22 km SSE of Twentynine Palms, CA
  13. 2.1 22 km SSW of La Quinta, CA
  14. 1.6 21 km ESE of Anza, CA
  15. 2.2 21 km ESE of Anza, 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.