Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.0ml
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 2.0 earthquake was recorded 18 km (11 mi) southeast of Ridgecrest, CA, at 11:04 am PDT on 12 October 2018 (18:04 UTC), 8.6 km deep.
USGS: 18km SE of Ridgecrest, CA
- When
- 11:04 am PDT on 12 October 2018 ()
- Where
- 18 km (11 mi) southeast of Ridgecrest, CA · earthquakes near Ridgecrest
- Magnitude
- M 2.0 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 112 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- Blackwater fault, 13 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 2942 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Ridgecrest, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Ridgecrest, CA. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 13 km (8 mi) from the epicentre. In Ridgecrest, 18 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: China Lake Acres, Searles Valley.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 30 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 350,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 32× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.0 about 30 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 43 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 16km NNE of Ridgecrest, California · 28 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 44 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.4 4km N of Inyokern, CA · 32 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.4 17km N of Ridgecrest, California · 31 km NNW 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 35.5282, -117.5135. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 112 km (70 mi) | W | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Inyo County, CA | 115 km (72 mi) | N | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| Tulare County, CA | 138 km (86 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
44 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 3.5 7km E of Ridgecrest, CA
- 3.5 8 km E of Ridgecrest, California
- 3.7 9km SW of Searles Valley, CA
- 3.9 14km W of Searles Valley, CA
- 3.2 15km SW of Searles Valley, CA
- 4.0 11km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 4.0 15km SW of Searles Valley, CA
- 3.7 9km SW of Searles Valley, CA
- 3.4 15km WSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 3.9 16km NE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 4.3 13km SW of Searles Valley, CA
- 3.6 9km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 3.9 11km SW of Searles Valley, CA
- 4.5 10km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 6.4 Ridgecrest Earthquake Sequence
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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.