Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 0.9ml
Earthquake near Salton City, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Salton City in the 24 hours to 6:02 pm PDT (01:02 UTC). The last one was M 2.4, 20 km (13 mi) SSW, at 12:01 am PDT on 18 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Salton City
This page: a magnitude 0.9 earthquake was recorded 20 km (13 mi) south-southwest of Salton City, CA, at 4:22 am PDT on 18 October 2026 (11:22 UTC), 3.0 km deep.
USGS: 8 km E of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- When
- 4:22 am PDT on 18 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 20 km (13 mi) south-southwest of Salton City, CA · earthquakes near Salton City
- Magnitude
- M 0.9 (ml)
- Depth
- 3.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Imperial County, 65 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 3 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Salton City, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Salton City, 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 0.75 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 1.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 20,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 14,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1,300× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 0.9 about 0.75 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 3,000,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 27 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.6 The 1942 Fish Creek Mountains, California Earthquake · 30 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.6 The 1968 Borrego Mountain, California Earthquake · 7 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.6 The 1987 Superstition Hills, California Earthquake · 22 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.4 The 1954 San Jacinto Fault, California Earthquake · 19 km N of this epicentre
- 6.2 The 1987 Elmore Ranch, California Earthquake · 24 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 33.1337, -116.0453. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Imperial County, CA | 65 km (40 mi) | E | earthquakes near Imperial County |
| Riverside County, CA | 66 km (41 mi) | N | earthquakes near Riverside County |
| San Diego County, CA | 69 km (43 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
11 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 10 km NE of Borrego Springs, CA
- 0.9 10 km NE of Borrego Springs, CA
- 0.8 11 km NE of Julian, CA
- 1.6 2 km NW of Brawley, CA
- 0.5 14 km ESE of Julian, CA
- 0.6 16 km ESE of Julian, CA
- 0.8 11 km E of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.5 8 km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.0 8 km ESE of Ocotillo Wells, CA
- 1.4 17 km NE of Borrego Springs, CA
- 1.4 8 km E of Ocotillo Wells, 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.
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 | -116.05 | -116.05 | |
| latitude | 33.13 | 33.13 | |
| depth | 2.2 | 3.02 |
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.