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M1.6 earthquake 23 km SSW of La Quinta, California, United States

A magnitude 1.6 earthquake struck 23 km SSW of La Quinta, California, United States at 20:29 local time (03:29 UTC) on 26 Sept 2026, at a depth of 20 km, according to USGS.

Data: USGS · updated 2026-09-28 18:03 UTC · reviewed

Magnitude
1.6micro
local magnitude (Richter) (ml)
Depth
19.8 km
Status
Reviewed
Origin time
2026-09-27 03:29:35 UTC
Local: 26 Sept 2026, 20:29:35 (America/Los Angeles)
Epicentre
33.486° N, 116.441° W

Circles show this event and others within 30 km from 7 days before to 30 days after. Lines: plate boundaries and GEM active faults. Open on the live map

Nearby places

Distance and estimated shaking at nearby places
PlaceDistanceEst. shaking
La QuintaCalifornia, United States · pop. 40,47623 kmINot felt
Palm DesertCalifornia, United States · pop. 51,86927 kmINot felt
Cathedral CityCalifornia, United States · pop. 53,82633 kmINot felt
CoachellaCalifornia, United States · pop. 44,63533 kmINot felt
RiversideCalifornia, United States · pop. 317,261103 kmINot felt
San DiegoCalifornia, United States · pop. 1,404,452108 kmINot felt
Chula VistaCalifornia, United States · pop. 265,757111 kmINot felt
TijuanaBaja California, Mexico · pop. 1,922,523121 kmINot felt

Shaking is an estimate from the intensity prediction equation of Allen, Wald & Worden (2012), not an observation. Local ground and buildings can change it by a level or more.

Every agency's solution

Agencies locate earthquakes with their own stations and methods, so their numbers differ. We match reports of the same event by time, distance and magnitude and show them side by side. The headline uses USGS · CI, which has been reviewed by an analyst.

AgencyMagnitudeDepthEpicentreTime offsetStatus
USGS · CIheadlineSouthern California Seismic Network via U.S. Geological Survey1.6 ml19.8 km33.49° N, 116.44° W–Reviewed

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How big was it?

Usually not felt. Recorded by nearby seismometers; thousands occur worldwide every day.

It released roughly the energy of 4 kg of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step means about 32 times more energy and 10 times larger waves on a seismogram. Depth matters too: at 20 km this was a shallow earthquake, which is felt more strongly at the surface than a deeper one of the same size.

M1.6 releases about 7.7× the energy of M1.0, and its waves are about 3.9× taller on a seismogram. Energy: 4 kg of TNT vs 477 g of TNT.

Each square is the energy of one M1.0. Energy from log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8.

Aftershocks and nearby activity

19 later earthquakes within 30 km; the largest was M2.3 1 day ago. 46 in the 7 days before. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.

Aftershocks

Mainshock M1.6

19 later earthquakes nearby. Aftershock rates typically fall off roughly as 1/time (Omori's law).

Aftershocks
Time after mainshock (hours)MagnitudeDepth (km)
0.002.314
0.021.213
1.580.512
8.200.26
9.270.93
9.730.910
11.130.513
15.221.513
19.710.56
20.380.86
23.881.211
27.680.62
32.590.710
37.231.213
37.620.611
37.620.313
38.420.811
39.390.710
39.390.411
  1. 2.326 km SW of La Quinta, California, United States09-27 03:29
  2. 1.525 km SW of La Quinta, California, United States09-27 18:42
  3. 1.225 km SW of La Quinta, California, United States09-27 03:30
  4. 1.225 km WSW of Oasis, California, United States09-28 03:22
  5. 1.225 km SW of La Quinta, California, United States09-28 16:43
  6. 0.928 km SSE of Valle Vista, California, United States09-27 12:45
  7. 0.934 km ENE of Valley Center, California, United States09-27 13:13
  8. 0.826 km SW of Oasis, California, United States09-28 17:54
  9. 0.829 km SE of Valle Vista, California, United States09-27 23:52
  10. 0.730 km WSW of Oasis, California, United States09-28 12:04
  11. 0.730 km SW of La Quinta, California, United States09-28 18:52
  12. 0.617 km SW of La Quinta, California, United States09-28 07:10
  13. 0.618 km SW of La Quinta, California, United States09-28 17:06
  14. 0.525 km SE of Valle Vista, California, United States09-27 05:04
  15. 0.529 km SW of Palm Desert, California, United States09-27 14:37
  16. 0.529 km SE of Valle Vista, California, United States09-27 23:12
  17. 0.430 km SW of La Quinta, California, United States09-28 18:53
  18. 0.318 km SSW of La Quinta, California, United States09-28 17:06
  19. 0.229 km SE of Valle Vista, California, United States09-27 11:41

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Reports on SeismoAtlas

No reports yet.

Event id ci10254430. First recorded here 28 Sept 2026, 18:32:13 UTC. Solutions: USGS · CI (usgs:ci10254430). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M1.6 earthquake 23 km SSW of La Quinta, California, United States”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/ci10254430-m1-6-earthquake-23-km-ssw-of-la-quinta-california-united-states, data from USGS.

JSON: /api/v1/events/ci10254430. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.