QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Indio, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Indio in the 24 hours to 4:07 am PST (12:07 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 20 km (12 mi) north-northeast of Indio, CA, at 3:18 pm PST on 21 January 2026 (23:18 UTC), 5.6 km deep.

USGS: 20 km NNE of Indio, CA

19 km (12 mi) NNE of Indio, CA · 114 km (71 mi) E of Riverside, CA

3:18 pm PST, Jan 21, 2026 · · 5.6 km deep · released about 6.2 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Indio Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 23 kmSan Bernardino County 107 kmSan Diego County 113 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
3:18 pm PST on 21 January 2026 ()
Where
20 km (12 mi) north-northeast of Indio, CA · earthquakes near Indio
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
5.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Riverside County, 23 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
Indio Hills Fault Zone, 11 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

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, 20 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, Desert Edge.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.2 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 6.2 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 120,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 21 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 43 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 16 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 19 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 The 1986 North Palm Springs, California Earthquake · 43 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 3km NE of Yucca Valley, California · 35 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 33.8942, -116.1575. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 23 km (14 mi) SE earthquakes near Riverside County
San Bernardino County, CA 107 km (67 mi) N earthquakes near San Bernardino County
San Diego County, CA 113 km (70 mi) SSW earthquakes near San Diego County
Imperial County, CA 121 km (75 mi) SE earthquakes near Imperial County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 19 km N of Indio, CA
  2. 1.7 18 km NNE of Indio, CA
  3. 1.7 21 km NNE of Indio, CA
  4. 2.1 21 km NNE of Indio, CA
  5. 1.6 16 km NNE of Thousand Palms, CA
  6. 1.6 21 km NNE of Indio, CA
  7. 1.7 21 km NNE of Indio, CA
  8. 2.6 19 km N of Indio, CA
  9. 1.6 20 km NNE of Indio, CA
  10. 1.5 19 km NNE of Indio, CA
  11. 3.3 19 km NNE of Indio, CA
  12. 1.5 19 km NNE of Indio, CA
  13. 1.6 19 km NNE of Indio, CA
  14. 1.6 18 km NNE of Indio, CA
  15. 1.5 18 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

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