QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Death Valley, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Death Valley in the 24 hours to 5:47 am PST (13:47 UTC). The last one was M 4.0, 94 km (59 mi) WSW, at 12:59 am PDT on 23 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 8 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Death Valley

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 26 km (16 mi) west-southwest of Death Valley, CA, at 10:40 am PDT on 7 October 2018 (17:40 UTC), 3.6 km deep.

USGS: 39km SSW of Furnace Creek, CA

10:40 am PDT, Oct 7, 2018 · · 3.6 km deep · released about 7.8 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Death Valley Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Inyo County 54 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
10:40 am PDT on 7 October 2018 ()
Where
26 km (16 mi) west-southwest of Death Valley, CA · earthquakes near Death Valley
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
3.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Inyo County, 54 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
Towne Pass fault, 18 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 2944 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Death Valley, 26 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 7.8 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 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.8 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 5,800 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.0 Death Valley area, California · 18 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 Death Valley area, California · 18 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 30km E of Coso Junction, California · 49 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 36.1507, -117.0787. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Inyo County, CA 54 km (34 mi) NNW earthquakes near Inyo County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 40km NE of Trona, CA
  2. 1.7 27km N of Searles Valley, CA
  3. 1.6 40km NE of Trona, CA
  4. 1.5 32km NNW of Searles Valley, CA
  5. 1.9 30km E of Coso Junction, CA
  6. 1.5 30km E of Coso Junction, CA
  7. 1.9 30km E of Coso Junction, CA
  8. 1.7 30km ENE of Coso Junction, CA
  9. 1.5 49km WSW of Shoshone, CA
  10. 1.8 33km ENE of Coso Junction, CA
  11. 2.8 30km E of Coso Junction, CA
  12. 1.9 31km E of Coso Junction, CA
  13. 1.9 30km E of Coso Junction, CA
  14. 1.7 34km S of Furnace Creek, CA
  15. 1.5 22km NE of Trona, 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.