QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9ml

Earthquake near Desert Hot Springs, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Desert Hot Springs in the 24 hours to 12:32 pm PST (20:32 UTC). The last one was M 3.6, 63 km (39 mi) SSW, at 12:31 am PDT on 19 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 165 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Desert Hot Springs

This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) east of Desert Hot Springs, CA, at 2:59 pm PDT on 11 March 2026 (21:59 UTC), 3.1 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 10 km E of Desert Hot Springs, CA

14 km (9 mi) NNE of Cathedral City, CA · 144 km (89 mi) NNE of San Diego, CA

2:59 pm PDT, Mar 11, 2026 · · 3.1 km deep · released about 25 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Desert Hot Springs Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Riverside County 43 kmSan Bernardino County 103 kmSan Diego County 109 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
2:59 pm PDT on 11 March 2026 ()
Where
10 km (6 mi) east of Desert Hot Springs, CA · earthquakes near Desert Hot Springs
Magnitude
M 1.9 (ml)
Depth
3.1 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Riverside County, 43 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Burnt Mountain fault, under 1 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 245 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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Desert Hot Springs, 10 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.

Likely felt in: Desert Hot Springs 10 km, intensity II · Thousand Palms 14 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 25 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 620,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 440,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 39× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 25 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 30,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 28 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.3 The 1992 Landers, California Earthquake · 28 km N of this epicentre
  2. 6.3 The 1992 Big Bear, California Earthquake · 49 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 The 1992 Joshua Tree, California Earthquake · 7 km ENE of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 The 1948 Desert Hot Springs, California Earthquake · 7 km NE of this epicentre
  5. 6.0 The 1986 North Palm Springs, California Earthquake · 21 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 33.9468, -116.3922. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Riverside County, CA 43 km (27 mi) ESE earthquakes near Riverside County
San Bernardino County, CA 103 km (64 mi) N earthquakes near San Bernardino County
San Diego County, CA 109 km (68 mi) SSW earthquakes near San Diego County
Imperial County, CA 139 km (87 mi) SE earthquakes near Imperial County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 14 km ENE of Indio, CA
  2. 2.8 19 km NNE of Indio, CA
  3. 1.5 10 km S of Joshua Tree, CA
  4. 1.6 6 km NE of Cabazon, CA
  5. 1.5 6 km NNW of Cabazon, CA
  6. 1.9 11 km SSW of Idyllwild, CA
  7. 1.7 5 km NNW of Cabazon, CA
  8. 1.9 4 km SSW of Cabazon, CA
  9. 1.7 4 km NNW of Cabazon, CA
  10. 1.7 10 km SSW of Morongo Valley, CA
  11. 1.5 15 km ESE of Anza, CA
  12. 1.5 6 km ESE of Big Bear City, CA
  13. 1.7 19 km NNE of Indio, CA
  14. 1.5 14 km NE of Coachella, CA
  15. 1.8 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.