Tortuga, California
22 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1940 and the latest in 2002. It stands in the East Imperial census division. It lies in ZIP code area 92227. The Survey maps it on the Tortuga quadrangle. It stands 187 feet above sea level.
Then and now
1940 to 2002The same ground, surveyed 62 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.


Topographic sheets covering this place
12 surveys from 22 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1940 USGS Iris quadrangle1:62500, 4 printings
- 1945 USGS Iris quadrangle1:62500
- 1954 USGS Salton Sea quadrangle1:250000
- 1955 USGS Salton Sea quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1955 USGS Tortuga quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1959 USGS Salton Sea quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1963 USGS Salton Sea quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS Salton Sea quadrangle1:250000
- 1985 USGS Salton Sea quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1992 USGS Tortuga quadrangle1:24000
- 1998 USGS Tortuga quadrangle1:24000
- 2002 USGS Iris quadrangle1:50000
Fires near this place
6 since 2005Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 6 fires within 5 miles of Tortuga between 2005 and 2017, burning about 522 acres in total. 1 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 1 |
| Natural | 1 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 July 2005 | Debris and open burning | 15 acres | California Desert District | MONTGOMERY |
| 1 June 2012 | Debris and open burning | 142 acres | California Desert District | HIGHLINE |
| 7 April 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | 290 acres | California Desert District | MONTGOMERY |
| 16 April 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | California Desert District | MAMMOTH |
| 25 March 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 74 acres | California Desert District | HIGHLINE |
| 27 November 2011 | Natural | under an acre | California Desert District | MAMMOTH |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Tortuga: 2 producers, 1 unknown. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All American Pit No. 2 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Gravel Pits | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Unknown | ||
| Highland Canal Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iris | 3.8 miles | 22 | |
| Amos | 5.7 miles | 22 | |
| Estelle | 8.8 miles | 22 | |
| Wiest | 9.4 miles | 21 | |
| Calipatria | 9.5 miles | 22 | |
| Munyon | 9.6 miles | 21 | |
| Mayflower (historical) | 9.7 miles | 21 | |
| Bernice (historical) | 9.8 miles | 20 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikidata item Q7827342 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 252997. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.











