Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near El Centro, CA
USGS: 25 km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- When
- 12:59 pm PDT on 1 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 42 km (26 mi) NW of El Centro, CA · earthquakes near El Centro
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 4.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Imperial County, 50 km E
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Jacinto fault, 5 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 30 hours ago
A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 42 km (26 mi) NW of El Centro, CA, at 12:59 pm PDT on 1 October 2026 (19:59 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Westmorland, Salton City.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 12 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,300,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 900,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 80× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 12 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 190,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 38 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.6 The 1942 Fish Creek Mountains, California Earthquake · 13 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.6 The 1968 Borrego Mountain, California Earthquake · 24 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.6 The 1987 Superstition Hills, California Earthquake · 6 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.4 The 1954 San Jacinto Fault, California Earthquake · 32 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.3 The 1906 Imperial Valley, California Earthquake · 40 km ESE 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 33.0567, -115.8887. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperial County, CA | 50 km (31 mi) | E | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| Riverside County, CA | 76 km (47 mi) | N | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| San Diego County, CA | 83 km (51 mi) | W | earthquakes near San Diego County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
3 earthquakes have 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.
Revisions
USGS refines a solution as more stations report. Every change we have seen is listed here.
| What changed | From | To | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| review status | automatic | reviewed | |
| longitude | -115.89 | -115.89 | |
| latitude | 33.06 | 33.06 | |
| depth | 4.54 | 4.8 | |
| magnitude | 1.74 | 1.73 | |
| location | 25 km W of Westmorland, CA | 25 km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA | |
| longitude | -115.88 | -115.89 | |
| latitude | 33.06 | 33.06 | |
| depth | 4.69 | 4.54 | |
| magnitude | 1.81 | 1.74 |
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.