QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

20 km NW of Desert Center, CA

Yes. A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 20 km NW of Desert Center, CA, at 5:44 pm PDT on 4 April 2025 (00:44 UTC), 1.4 km deep.

· 1.4 km deep · released about 8.4 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 46 kmImperial 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 1.6 (ml)
Depth
1.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Riverside County, 46 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 585 days ago

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. 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 8.4 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.4 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 7,200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.7 38km ESE of Twentynine Palms, CA · 22 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 15 km SSE of Twentynine Palms, California · 46 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 15 km SSE of Twentynine Palms, California · 46 km WNW 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 33.8645, -115.5273. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 46 km (29 mi) WSW earthquakes near Riverside County
Imperial County, CA 93 km (58 mi) S earthquakes near Imperial County
San Bernardino County, CA 126 km (78 mi) NNW earthquakes near San Bernardino County
San Diego County, CA 149 km (93 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

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

  1. 1.1 24 km ENE of Thermal, CA
  2. 1.4 6 km NNE of North Shore, CA
  3. 1.2 29 km E of Twentynine Palms, CA
  4. 2.7 33 km WNW of Desert Center, CA
  5. 2.7 33 km WNW of Desert Center, CA
  6. 1.4 24 km S of Twentynine Palms, CA
  7. 2.0 23 km SSE of Twentynine Palms, CA
  8. 0.9 21 km ENE of Thermal, CA
  9. 1.6 20 km ENE of Thermal, CA
  10. 2.1 15 km NE of Thermal, CA
  11. 1.6 19 km ENE of Coachella, CA
  12. 1.6 20 km NW of Desert Center, CA
  13. 1.6 10 km ESE of North Shore, CA
  14. 2.4 10 km ESE of North Shore, CA
  15. 1.5 14 km NE of Coachella, 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.