Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Brawley, CA
USGS: 37 km E of Calipatria, CA
83 km (52 mi) NW of Yuma, AZ
- When
- 6:07 pm PDT on 30 September 2026 ()
- Where
- 40 km (25 mi) ENE of Brawley, CA · earthquakes near Brawley
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Imperial County, 22 km W
- Status
- Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2 days ago
A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 40 km (25 mi) ENE of Brawley, CA, at 6:07 pm PDT on 30 September 2026 (01:07 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.3 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.3 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 5.3 on 2021-06-05 — about 310,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 25 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.9 The 1940 Imperial Valley, California Earthquake · 35 km SW of this epicentre
- 6.3 The 1906 Imperial Valley, California Earthquake · 40 km WSW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1915 Imperial Valley, California Earthquakes (First Major Event) · 47 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.9 The 1915 Imperial Valley, California Earthquakes (Second Major Event) · 47 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.8 5km N of Westmorland, CA · 48 km W 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 33.0727, -115.1183. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperial County, CA | 22 km (14 mi) | W | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| Riverside County, CA | 110 km (68 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| Yuma County, AZ | 117 km (73 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Yuma County |
| La Paz County, AZ | 124 km (77 mi) | NE | earthquakes near La Paz County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
1 earthquake has been recorded within 50 km since this one.
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.