QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Big Pine, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Big Pine in the 24 hours to 11:06 am PST (19:06 UTC). The last one was M 1.6, 9 km (6 mi) NNE, at 10:07 am PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Big Pine

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 20 km (12 mi) south of Big Pine, CA, at 8:20 pm PDT on 24 September 2016 (03:20 UTC), 6.9 km deep.

USGS: 20km S of Big Pine, CA

8:20 pm PDT, Sep 24, 2016 · · 6.9 km deep · released about 8.7 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Big Pine Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Inyo County 89 kmTulare County 97 kmEsmeralda County 103 kmMono County 117 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
8:20 pm PDT on 24 September 2016 ()
Where
20 km (12 mi) south of Big Pine, CA · earthquakes near Big Pine
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
6.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Inyo County, 89 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Southern Sierra Nevada fault, 7 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 3056 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Big Pine, 20 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 8.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.7 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 4.8 on 2016-02-16 — about 50,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.1 46km E of Big Pine, California · 47 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 Near Bishop, California · 41 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 4 km SSW of Bishop, California · 41 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 10 km N of Independence, California · 11 km SSE 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 36.9887, -118.2503. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Inyo County, CA 89 km (55 mi) ESE earthquakes near Inyo County
Tulare County, CA 97 km (60 mi) SSW earthquakes near Tulare County
Esmeralda County, NV 103 km (64 mi) NNE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Mono County, CA 117 km (73 mi) NNW earthquakes near Mono County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 2 km NNW of West Bishop, California
  2. 1.8 36 km ESE of Big Pine, California
  3. 2.1 7 km SSW of Wilkerson, California
  4. 2.0 29 km E of Big Pine, CA
  5. 1.6 7 km SSW of Wilkerson, California
  6. 1.6 24 km E of Bishop, California
  7. 1.6 2 km E of Bishop, California
  8. 1.8 2 km E of Bishop, California
  9. 1.5 2 km E of Bishop, California
  10. 1.7 8 km ENE of Wilkerson, California
  11. 2.7 7 km ENE of Wilkerson, California
  12. 1.8 7 km NE of Wilkerson, California
  13. 1.6 7 km NE of Wilkerson, California
  14. 1.9 7 km NE of Wilkerson, California
  15. 1.8 23km NE of Independence, 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.