California earthquakes

M4.0 earthquake 4km ENE of Brawley, CA

A magnitude 4.0 earthquake struck 4km ENE of Brawley, CA on Fri, Dec 16, 1955, 9:42 PM GMT-8 (05:42 UTC), 6 km (4 mi) below the surface.

A larger quake followed: M5.3 6km ESE of Brawley, CA. This one was a foreshock.

Brawley forecastMore in California

Map

Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.

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The earthquake

Magnitude
4.0 (ml), minor
Local time
UTC
1955-12-17 05:42:19 UTC
Depth
6.0 km (3.7 mi), shallow
Epicenter
32.993° N, 115.486° W
Tsunami flag
No
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

Did you feel it?

No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.

How well it is located

Reviewed by a seismologist.

Location uncertainty
About 1.3 km horizontally, 31.6 km in depth
Magnitude uncertainty
±0.16
Depth from
Operator assigned
Station coverage gap
297°, poorly surrounded by stations
Stations used
5

Nearest places

Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.

Nearby

Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 29 in the 60 days after this one and 9 in the 30 days before it.

After

  1. 5.36km ESE of Brawley, CA · 25853 days ago · 6 km deep · 4 km away
  2. 4.14km NE of Brawley, CA · 25853 days ago · 6 km deep · 1 km away
  3. 3.04km NE of Brawley, CA · 25853 days ago · 6 km deep · 1 km away
  4. 3.22km W of Brawley, CA · 25853 days ago · 6 km deep · 6 km away
  5. 3.14km NE of Brawley, CA · 25853 days ago · 6 km deep · 1 km away
  6. 3.44km NE of Brawley, CA · 25853 days ago · 6 km deep · 1 km away
  7. 3.14km NE of Brawley, CA · 25853 days ago · 6 km deep · 1 km away
  8. 3.14km NE of Brawley, CA · 25853 days ago · 6 km deep · 1 km away
  9. 2.94km NE of Brawley, CA · 25853 days ago · 6 km deep · 1 km away
  10. 4.65km SE of Brawley, CA · 25853 days ago · 6 km deep · 5 km away
  11. 3.14km NE of Brawley, CA · 25853 days ago · 6 km deep · 1 km away
  12. 3.08km N of Holtville, CA · 25852 days ago · 6 km deep · 16 km away
  13. 3.24km E of Brawley, CA · 25852 days ago · 6 km deep · 2 km away
  14. 3.11km NW of Brawley, CA · 25852 days ago · 6 km deep · 5 km away
  15. 3.24km ENE of Holtville, CA · 25852 days ago · 6 km deep · 23 km away
  16. 3.34km NE of Brawley, CA · 25852 days ago · 6 km deep · 1 km away
  17. 3.83km NNW of Holtville, CA · 25852 days ago · 6 km deep · 19 km away
  18. 2.826km W of Westmorland, CA · 25852 days ago · 6 km deep · 39 km away
  19. 3.38km N of Holtville, CA · 25852 days ago · 6 km deep · 16 km away
  20. 3.46km N of Brawley, CA · 25852 days ago · 6 km deep · 6 km away
  21. 3.82km SW of Holtville, CA · 25852 days ago · 6 km deep · 23 km away
  22. 3.86km NNE of Holtville, CA · 25852 days ago · 6 km deep · 19 km away
  23. 3.612km SE of Brawley, CA · 25852 days ago · 6 km deep · 10 km away
  24. 4.20km NNE of Westmorland, CA · 25852 days ago · 6 km deep · 14 km away
  25. 3.54km NE of Holtville, CA · 25852 days ago · 6 km deep · 22 km away
  26. 3.04km E of Imperial, CA · 25851 days ago · 6 km deep · 16 km away
  27. 3.26km SSE of Holtville, CA · 25850 days ago · 6 km deep · 28 km away
  28. 4.640km S of Ocotillo, CA · 25835 days ago · 6 km deep · 86 km away
  29. 2.88km ENE of Borrego Springs, CA · 25803 days ago · 10 km deep · 81 km away

Before

  1. 3.57km E of Westmorland, CA · 25853 days ago · 6 km deep · 9 km away
  2. 2.62km S of Brawley, CA · 25853 days ago · 6 km deep · 5 km away
  3. 4.44km E of Brawley, CA · 25853 days ago · 6 km deep · 1 km away
  4. 2.95km ENE of Imperial, CA · 25853 days ago · 6 km deep · 15 km away
  5. 3.44km NE of Westmorland, CA · 25853 days ago · 6 km deep · 13 km away
  6. 3.48km SSE of Brawley, CA · 25853 days ago · 6 km deep · 10 km away
  7. 3.85km NE of Brawley, CA · 25853 days ago · 6 km deep · 3 km away
  8. 2.94km E of Westmorland, CA · 25853 days ago · 6 km deep · 10 km away
  9. 3.322km ESE of Julian, CA · 25868 days ago · 6 km deep · 83 km away

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Sources

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event ci3297421. Read Sun, Sep 27, 2026, 7:01 PM UTC.