M3.1 earthquake 23 km SW of La Quinta, California, United States
A magnitude 3.1 earthquake struck 23 km SW of La Quinta, California, United States at 17:01 local time (00:01 UTC) on 30 Sept 2026, at a depth of 5 km, according to USGS.
8 reports to USGS “Did You Feel It?”
Data: USGS · updated 2026-10-01 00:38 UTC · reviewed
- Magnitude
- 3.1minor
local magnitude (Richter) (ml) - Depth
- 5.1 km
- Status
- Reviewed
- Origin time
- 2026-10-01 00:01:59 UTC
- Local: 30 Sept 2026, 17:01:59 (America/Los Angeles)
- Epicentre
- 33.502° N, 116.463° W
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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
| Place | Distance | Est. shaking |
|---|---|---|
| La QuintaCalifornia, United States · pop. 40,476 | 23 km | IIWeak |
| Palm DesertCalifornia, United States · pop. 51,869 | 25 km | IIWeak |
| Cathedral CityCalifornia, United States · pop. 53,826 | 31 km | IIWeak |
| IndioCalifornia, United States · pop. 87,533 | 33 km | IIWeak |
| RiversideCalifornia, United States · pop. 317,261 | 100 km | INot felt |
| San DiegoCalifornia, United States · pop. 1,404,452 | 109 km | INot felt |
| Chula VistaCalifornia, United States · pop. 265,757 | 112 km | INot felt |
| TijuanaBaja California, Mexico · pop. 1,922,523 | 122 km | INot 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. Likely felt out to about 16 km.
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.
| Agency | Magnitude | Depth | Epicentre | Time offset | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USGS · CIheadlineSouthern California Seismic Network via U.S. Geological Survey | 3.1 mlwas 3.1 | 5.1 km | 33.50° N, 116.46° W | – | Reviewed · 2 revisions |
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How big was it?
Often felt by people at rest close to the epicentre, rarely causes damage.
It released roughly the energy of 629 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 5 km this was a shallow earthquake, which is felt more strongly at the surface than a deeper one of the same size.
M3.1 releases about 30× the energy of M2.1, and its waves are about 9.5× taller on a seismogram. Energy: 629 kg of TNT vs 21 kg of TNT.
Each square is the energy of one M2.1. Energy from log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8.
Aftershocks and nearby activity
3 later earthquakes within 30 km; the largest was M1.3 1 h 20 min ago. 92 in the 7 days before. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.
Mainshock M3.1
3 later earthquakes nearby. Aftershock rates typically fall off roughly as 1/time (Omori's law).
| Time after mainshock (hours) | Magnitude | Depth (km) |
|---|---|---|
| 0.03 | 1.3 | 3 |
| 0.11 | 0.6 | 3 |
| 0.69 | 0.8 | 3 |
Did you feel it?
Reports from people help show where shaking was strong. They are anonymous and shown here in aggregate.
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Event id ci41341279. First recorded here 1 Oct 2026, 00:05:09 UTC. Solutions: USGS · CI (usgs:ci41341279). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M3.1 earthquake 23 km SW of La Quinta, California, United States”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/ci41341279-m3-1-earthquake-23-km-sw-of-la-quinta-california-united-states, data from USGS.
JSON: /api/v1/events/ci41341279. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.