Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.1ml
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 2.1 earthquake was recorded 49 km (30 mi) northeast of Ridgecrest, CA, at 2:12 pm PST on 26 February 2018 (22:12 UTC), 4.7 km deep.
USGS: 21km NNE of Trona, CA
- When
- 2:12 pm PST on 26 February 2018 ()
- Where
- 49 km (30 mi) northeast of Ridgecrest, CA · earthquakes near Ridgecrest
- Magnitude
- M 2.1 (ml)
- Depth
- 4.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Inyo County, 69 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- Ash Hill fault, 3 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 3181 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 17 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Ridgecrest, 49 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 51 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 300,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 210,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 19× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.1 about 51 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 4.1 on 2017-08-22 — about 900 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.0 Death Valley area, California · 28 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.9 Death Valley area, California · 28 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.8 16km NNE of Ridgecrest, California · 37 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.4 17km N of Ridgecrest, California · 38 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.3 27km E of Coso Junction, California · 35 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 35.9448, -117.2992. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inyo County, CA | 69 km (43 mi) | N | earthquakes near Inyo County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
51 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 16km NE of Little Lake, CA
- 1.7 18km SE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.6 39km SSW of Furnace Creek, CA
- 1.8 14km SE of Little Lake, CA
- 1.9 43km SW of Stovepipe Wells, CA
- 1.6 37km ENE of Coso Junction, CA
- 1.5 30km NNW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.9 12km E of Coso Junction, CA
- 2.0 13km WSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.6 16km NE of Little Lake, CA
- 1.7 30km E of Coso Junction, CA
- 2.0 11km NE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.6 37km ENE of Coso Junction, CA
- 1.6 33km ENE of Coso Junction, CA
- 1.6 16km NE 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
- 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.