QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.5ml

38km SW of Stovepipe Wells, CA

Yes. A magnitude 3.5 earthquake was recorded 38km SW of Stovepipe Wells, CA, at 7:50 am PDT on 13 May 2016 (14:50 UTC), 1.3 km deep.

· 1.3 km deep · released about 2.6 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Inyo County 21 kmTulare County 119 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
Magnitude
M 3.5 (ml)
Depth
1.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Measured shaking
intensity V (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Inyo County, 21 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault
Ash Hill 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 1507 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 63 km (39 mi) from the epicentre. 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 2.6 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 65,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,900× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,100× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.5 about 2.6 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 5.4× more

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 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.3 27km E of Coso Junction, California · 37 km SSW of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 28km E of Coso Junction, California · 38 km SSW of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 18km NE of Olancha, CA · 35 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 30km E of Coso Junction, California · 36 km SSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.0 18km NE of Olancha, CA · 35 km W 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 36.3768, -117.4655. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Inyo County, CA 21 km (13 mi) NNE earthquakes near Inyo County
Tulare County, CA 119 km (74 mi) W earthquakes near Tulare County
Kern County, CA 162 km (100 mi) SW earthquakes near Kern County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 22km E of Little Lake, CA
  2. 1.9 27km ENE of Olancha, CA
  3. 1.5 17km NE of Olancha, CA
  4. 1.8 17km NE of Olancha, CA
  5. 3.5 18km NE of Olancha, CA
  6. 1.5 2km NE of Stovepipe Wells, CA
  7. 1.6 18km NE of Olancha, CA
  8. 1.7 22km E of Little Lake, CA
  9. 1.7 22km E of Little Lake, CA
  10. 1.7 18km NE of Olancha, CA
  11. 1.6 15km NNE of Coso Junction, CA
  12. 1.6 31km NNW of Searles Valley, CA
  13. 1.5 23km E of Little Lake, CA
  14. 2.3 44km SW of Stovepipe Wells, CA
  15. 1.6 17km NE of Olancha, 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.