QuakeIndex

Fault · California

Little Lake fault

47 kmlong (29 mi), as mapped
1–5 mm/yrhow fast it slips
last 150 yearssince it last broke the surface
93quakes of M2.5+ within 10 km since 2016

In plain English

The two sides move 1 to 5 mm a year — 10 to 50 cm (4 to 20 inches) every century.

It has broken the ground surface within the last 150 years.

The largest earthquake recorded near it was M 6.3 in 1946 (The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake) — about 89,000 times the energy of an M3.0, the size people start to feel. It released about 43 kilotons of TNT.

This week vs. its last ten years

Too quiet to rank: fewer than half a year's worth of weeks with any M1.5+ quake within 5 km, in ten years. A single quake here would read as "unusual", so we do not score it.

Computed from the USGS catalogue · a description of the past, not a forecast · method

San Andreas faultGarlock faultSouthern Sierra Nevada faultLenwood-Lockhart faultOwens Valley faultHelendale-South Lockhart faultKern Canyon faultPanamint Valley faultBlack Mountains faultHarper faultBlackwater faultAsh Hill faultWhite Wolf faultTowne Pass faultAirport Lake faultEdison faultTank Canyon faultBreckenridge fault M 6.3 · 1946 · The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake
The Little Lake fault as mapped at the surface (glowing), with the other mapped faults nearby, 93 of the M2.5+ earthquakes within 10 km of it since 2016 (dots), and the epicentres of the large historic earthquakes recorded near it (rings). Traces: USGS Quaternary Fault and Fold Database. Historic epicentres are estimates.

Every year since 2016

Earthquakes of M2.5+ with an epicentre within 10 km of the mapped trace. Near is not the same as on: some will have slipped on neighbouring faults.

The big ones recorded near it

  1. M 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake
    March 15, 1946 · epicentre 14 km from the trace
  2. M 5.5 15km ESE of Little Lake, CA
    July 6, 2019 · epicentre 10 km from the trace
  3. M 4.9 8km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
    July 12, 2019 · epicentre 9 km from the trace
  4. M 4.8 7km SE of Ridgecrest, CA
    July 6, 2019 · epicentre 7 km from the trace
  5. M 4.6 7km ESE of Ridgecrest, CA
    July 4, 2019 · epicentre 8 km from the trace
  6. M 4.1 7km ESE of Ridgecrest, CA
    July 4, 2019 · epicentre 8 km from the trace
  7. M 4.0 6km ESE of Ridgecrest, CA
    July 4, 2019 · epicentre 7 km from the trace

Before 1973 from the USGS ComCat historical catalogue (within 25 km; epicentres of old earthquakes are estimates). Since 2016, M4+ within 10 km.

Most recent near it

  1. M 2.8 21 km ESE of Little Lake, CA
    2026-05-23 · 9 km from the trace
  2. M 2.9 15 km ESE of Little Lake, CA
    2024-12-05 · 10 km from the trace
  3. M 3.1 7km ESE of Ridgecrest, CA
    2023-02-02 · 8 km from the trace
  4. M 3.3 3km N of Little Lake, CA
    2021-01-21 · 9 km from the trace
  5. M 3.5 3km N of Little Lake, CA
    2021-01-21 · 9 km from the trace
  6. M 2.6 9km NE of Ridgecrest, CA
    2021-01-03 · 10 km from the trace

Neighbouring faults

Fault trace, slip rate and age: USGS Quaternary Fault and Fold Database (public domain), simplified for the web. Earthquakes: USGS ComCat. QuakeIndex does not forecast earthquakes; a fault's history describes the past. For early warning use ShakeAlert.