Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 4.3mw
Earthquake near Indio, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Indio in the 24 hours to 9:00 am PST (17:00 UTC). The last one was M 4.9, 173 km (107 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 Indio
This page: a magnitude 4.3 earthquake was recorded 20 km (13 mi) north-northeast of Indio, CA, at 12:30 am PST on 21 January 2026 (08:30 UTC), 3.7 km deep. 1,516 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 20 km NNE of Indio, CA
20 km (12 mi) NNE of Indio, CA · 113 km (70 mi) E of Riverside, CA
- When
- 12:30 am PST on 21 January 2026 ()
- Where
- 20 km (13 mi) north-northeast of Indio, CA · earthquakes near Indio
- Magnitude
- M 4.3 (mw)
- Depth
- 3.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- 1,516 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Measured shaking
- intensity IV (ShakeMap)
- USGS impact alert
- green
- Tsunami
- USGS flagged this event for tsunami evaluation. Follow tsunami.gov for official messages.
- Nearest
- Riverside County, 24 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Indio Hills Fault Zone, 10 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 133 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Indio, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Indio, CA. No account or email needed.
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 light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 117 km (73 mi) from the epicentre. In Indio, 20 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: Indio 20 km, intensity III · Thousand Palms 22 km, intensity III · Coachella 24 km, intensity III · Palm Desert 27 km, intensity III · Twentynine Palms 28 km, intensity III · Joshua Tree 29 km, intensity III · La Quinta 29 km, intensity III · Cathedral City 30 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 37 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.3 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 4,600× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 210× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 150× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 4.3 about 37 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 77× more
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 10 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 21 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 41 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 15 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 17 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1986 North Palm Springs, California Earthquake · 42 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 3km NE of Yucca Valley, California · 34 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 33.9002, -116.1702. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County, CA | 24 km (15 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 106 km (66 mi) | N | earthquakes near San Bernardino County |
| San Diego County, CA | 113 km (70 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Imperial County, CA | 122 km (76 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 14 km ENE of Indio, CA
- 2.0 23 km ENE of Thermal, CA
- 1.5 20 km N of Indio, CA
- 1.9 18 km NNE of Indio, CA
- 2.3 17 km NNE of Indio, CA
- 1.8 17 km NNE of Indio, CA
- 1.7 17 km NNE of Indio, CA
- 2.3 20 km NNE of Indio, CA
- 2.3 21 km NNE of Indio, CA
- 1.8 17 km NNE of Indio, CA
- 1.5 18 km NNE of Indio, CA
- 1.6 19 km N of Indio, CA
- 2.5 17 km NNE of Indio, CA
- 1.6 17 km NNE of Indio, CA
- 2.8 17 km NNE of Indio, 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.