Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Indio, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Indio in the 24 hours to 9:53 am PST (17:53 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 1.5 earthquake was recorded 17 km (10 mi) north-northeast of Indio, CA, at 5:39 am PST on 21 January 2026 (13:39 UTC), 3.2 km deep.
USGS: 17 km N of Indio, CA
16 km (10 mi) NNE of Indio, CA · 147 km (91 mi) NE of San Diego, CA
- When
- 5:39 am PST on 21 January 2026 ()
- Where
- 17 km (10 mi) north-northeast of Indio, CA · earthquakes near Indio
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 3.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Riverside County, 23 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Indio Hills Fault Zone, 8 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 287 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 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Indio, 17 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: Sky Valley, Bermuda Dunes, Thousand Palms, Coachella, Indian Wells, Palm Desert.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 4.9 on 2026-01-20 — about 140,000 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 · 44 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 16 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 19 km NW 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 · 36 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 33.8683, -116.1805. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside County, CA | 23 km (14 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| San Diego County, CA | 109 km (68 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 110 km (68 mi) | N | earthquakes near San Bernardino County |
| Imperial County, CA | 120 km (74 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Imperial County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
59 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 20 km NNE of Indio, CA
- 1.5 19 km NNE of Indio, CA
- 3.3 19 km NNE of Indio, CA
- 1.5 19 km NNE of Indio, CA
- 1.6 19 km NNE of Indio, CA
- 1.6 18 km NNE of Indio, CA
- 1.5 18 km NNE of Indio, CA
- 1.7 21 km NNE of Indio, CA
- 1.6 20 km N of Indio, CA
- 1.5 21 km NNE of Indio, CA
- 2.0 20 km NNE of Indio, CA
- 1.6 18 km N of Indio, CA
- 1.6 14 km ENE of Indio, CA
- 2.0 23 km ENE of Thermal, CA
- 1.5 20 km N 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.