QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3ml

Earthquake near Ridgecrest, CA

Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Ridgecrest in the last 24 hours. M 1.5, 7 km (4 mi) E of Ridgecrest, at 3:54 am PST on 12 November 2026 (11:54 UTC); the estimated shaking in Ridgecrest was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Ridgecrest

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 24 km (15 mi) east-southeast of Ridgecrest, CA, at 12:18 am PDT on 6 July 2019 (07:18 UTC), 8.9 km deep.

USGS: 21km S of Trona, CA

12:18 am PDT, Jul 6, 2019 · · 8.9 km deep · released about 82 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Ridgecrest Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Inyo County 109 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
12:18 am PDT on 6 July 2019 ()
Where
24 km (15 mi) east-southeast of Ridgecrest, CA · earthquakes near Ridgecrest
Magnitude
M 2.3 (ml)
Depth
8.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Inyo County, 109 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Garlock fault, 10 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2575 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 18 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Ridgecrest, 24 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Searles Valley.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 82 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 180,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 12× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 82 lb of TNT

Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 7.1 on 2019-07-06 — about 16,000,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 50 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 16km NNE of Ridgecrest, California · 29 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 4km N of Inyokern, CA · 38 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 17km N of Ridgecrest, California · 31 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 8km NE of Inyokern, CA · 33 km WNW of this epicentre

Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.

Where

Epicentre 35.5783, -117.4147. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Inyo County, CA 109 km (68 mi) N earthquakes near Inyo County
Kern County, CA 122 km (76 mi) WSW earthquakes near Kern County
San Bernardino County, CA 138 km (86 mi) SE earthquakes near San Bernardino County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

60 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 2.1 23km WNW of Searles Valley, CA
  2. 2.8 11km WSW of Searles Valley, CA
  3. 2.7 16km W of Searles Valley, CA
  4. 3.4 15km NNE of Ridgecrest, CA
  5. 3.1 15km SSW of Trona, CA
  6. 2.7 14km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
  7. 2.5 24km S of Trona, CA
  8. 2.8 15km WSW of Searles Valley, CA
  9. 3.2 19km W of Searles Valley, CA
  10. 3.1 18km E of Little Lake, CA
  11. 2.9 19km ESE of Little Lake, CA
  12. 2.6 19km E of Ridgecrest, CA
  13. 2.3 16km W of Searles Valley, CA
  14. 2.2 17km ESE of Little Lake, CA
  15. 2.3 17km E of Little Lake, CA

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.