El Centro

Sister cities

• Mexicali

History

Spanish explorer Melchor Díaz was one of the first Europeans to visit the area around El Centro and Imperial Valley in 1540. The explorer Juan Bautista de Anza also explored the area in 1776 (an elementary school in El Centro now bears his name). Years later, after the Mexican–American War, the northern half of the valley was annexed by the U.S., while the southern half remained under Mexican rule. Small scale settlement in natural aquifer areas occurred in the early 19th century (the present-day site of Mexicali), but most permanent settlement (Anglo Americans on the U.S. side, Mexicans on the other side) was after 1900. In 1906, the land on which El Centro was later built was purchased by W. F. Holt and C.A. Barker. In 1907 Imperial County was split off from San Diego County; by then much of the valley was successfully irrigated. The City of El Centro was incorporated on April 16, 1908. Early growth was rapid with the city's population reaching 1,610 by 1910 and more than tripling by 1920 to 5,646 people. One reason for this rapid early growth was El Centro's successful battle with the City of Imperial to become the county seat. Liquefaction-related failures were reported in several areas, including the Calexico Wastewater Treatment Plant, Sunbeam Lake Dam, and levee systems near El Centro. The quake also led to the demolition of several iconic structures, including the El Centro Public Library and the old water tower on Eighth Street and Vine Avenue, which had become unsafe. Emergency shelters were activated, and city officials worked to secure federal assistance, though FEMA support was limited. The disaster prompted long-term recovery efforts and the eventual construction of a new library funded by local sales tax measures. Other notable seismic events…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which over 99% is land. El Centro is located in the Imperial Valley (considered locally as synonymous with Imperial County). The city is below sea level and the largest city in the United States below sea level. The Imperial Valley is in the Colorado Desert, an extension of the larger Sonoran Desert. The agriculture industry's demand for water is supplied by canals diverting water from the nearby Colorado River. The Salton Sea was created after a 1905 flood from the Colorado River. The El Centro earthquake of 1940 had a moment magnitude of 6.9 and a maximum perceived intensity of X (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale. It was the first major earthquake to be recorded by a strong-motion seismograph located next to a fault rupture. It was intensely studied by structural engineers and assumed to be typical until the Northridge earthquake of 1994. In this region, the geology is dominated by the transition of the tectonic plate boundary from rift to transverse fault. The southernmost strands of the San Andreas Fault connect the northernmost extensions of the East Pacific Rise. Consequently, the region is subject to earthquakes, and the crust is being stretched, resulting in a sinking of the terrain over time. El Centro has a hot desert climate (Köppen climate classification: BWh) and is the southernmost desert city below sea level in the continental United States. It features long, extremely hot summers, and mild winters. El Centro has over 350 days of sunshine and under of rain annually. Winter temperatures are in the mid to high 60s °F (mid to high teens °C) with over-night lows in the low 40s °F (mid +0s °C) . During summer days of June; typically the driest month of the year with…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  1,157
• Great-tailed Grackle

  Quiscalus mexicanus (Gmelin, 1788) · Aves
  1,067
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  851
• Northern Mockingbird

  Mimus polyglottos (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  782
• American Kestrel

  Falco sparverius Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  729
• Rock Pigeon

  Columba livia J.F.Gmelin, 1789 · Aves
  694
• Cattle Egret

  Bubulcus ibis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  673
• Great Egret

  Ardea alba Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  627

Most recent

• M 2.72 — 2026-10-15
  20 km W of Delta, B.C., MX
• M 2.97 — 2026-09-20
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• M 2.65 — 2026-08-31
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• M 2.56 — 2026-08-27
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• M 3.06 — 2026-08-25
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• M 2.69 — 2026-08-20
  8 km WSW of Alberto Oviedo Mota, B.C., MX