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Location:
10km SW of Salton City, CA
Period:
29 Jun 2006 23:26:53 - 5 Jul 2006 13:57:52 (5 days 14 hours 30 minutes)
Volcanoes in 100km radius:
Salton Buttes(38km)
Earthquakes:
126
12 swarms found nearby.
2008
S20081030.1(23.2km)
30 Oct
2 days 14 hours
105 earthquakes
2009
S20090721.1(21.7km)
20 Jul
1 day 10 hours
32 earthquakes
S20091101.1(26.2km)
1 Nov
12 hours
26 earthquakes
2012
S20120910.1(29.9km)
9 Sep
1 day 1 hours
28 earthquakes
2015
S20150531.1(25.5km)
31 May
2 days 9 hours
45 earthquakes
2018
S20180513.1(23.2km)
13 May
2 days 22 hours
70 earthquakes
2020
S20200510.1(24.7km)
10 May
5 days 22 hours
133 earthquakes
2021
S20210819.1(21.8km)
18 Aug
2 days 0 hours
37 earthquakes
2024
2 Aug
2 days 23 hours
54 earthquakes
2025
S20250320.2(10.2km)
19 Mar
6 days 15 hours
81 earthquakes
2026
S20260518.1(22.6km)
18 May
3 hours
43 earthquakes
1 Jul
1 day 21 hours
31 earthquakes
AI-generated article — for informational and entertainment purposes only. May contain inaccuracies. Full disclaimerFound an error?

SeismoSight Analysis: The June–July 2006 Earthquake Swarm Southwest of Salton City, California

The Salton Trough forms the southern extension of the San Andreas Fault system within the Imperial Valley of southern California. This tectonically active region lies at the boundary between the Pacific and North American plates, where right-lateral strike-slip motion is accommodated by a series of northwest-trending faults including the San Andreas, Imperial, and Brawley faults. The area is also characterized by high geothermal gradients, sedimentary basin fill exceeding 10 km in thickness, and ongoing subsidence associated with the Salton Sea.

SeismoSight internal records document Swarm S20060630.1, which began at 23:26 UTC on 29 June 2006 and concluded at 13:57 UTC on 5 July 2006. The sequence was centered approximately 10 km southwest of Salton City and produced 126 earthquakes over 134 hours and 30 minutes. The first 100 events, recorded between 29 June and 3 July, exhibited predominantly shallow focal depths between 0 km and 9 km, with the great majority occurring between 1 km and 5 km. Magnitudes ranged from 0.8 to 4.3, featuring a single event of M4.3 on 30 June at 00:28 UTC, followed by a rapid succession of smaller aftershocks.

Temporal analysis shows the highest rate of activity within the first 12 hours, including multiple events of M2.0–M3.4. Subsequent days displayed a gradual decline in both frequency and maximum magnitude, with events clustering around M1.2–M1.7. Depth distribution remained consistent, indicating that brittle failure occurred within the upper few kilometers of the sedimentary column and underlying basement rocks.

Such swarms are characteristic of the Brawley Seismic Zone, where fluid migration and aseismic slip can trigger episodic clusters of small-to-moderate earthquakes without a single dominant mainshock. The 2006 sequence aligns with this pattern, contributing to the long-term strain release along the Imperial–Brawley fault system that has produced similar swarms in 1981, 2005, and 2016.

  • SeismoSight internal swarm catalog S20060630.1
  • USGS Earthquake Hazards Program regional tectonic summaries (Salton Trough)
  • California Geological Survey fault activity maps (Imperial Valley)