QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.5ml

16km NW of Coso Junction, CA

Yes. A magnitude 3.5 earthquake was recorded 16km NW of Coso Junction, CA, at 10:35 pm PST on 5 November 2018 (06:35 UTC), less than 1 km deep. 7 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

· 0.6 km deep · released about 2.5 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Tulare County 65 kmInyo County 75 kmKern County 107 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
0.6 km below the surface
Felt
7 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Measured shaking
intensity V (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Tulare County, 65 km W
Nearest mapped fault
Southern Sierra Nevada 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 2852 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 62 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 2.5 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 68,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 3,000× 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 2.5 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 5.2× 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 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 49 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 5.3 27km E of Coso Junction, California · 38 km ESE of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 15km NNE of Inyokern, CA · 49 km SSE of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 28km E of Coso Junction, California · 40 km ESE of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 7km ESE of Coso Junction, CA · 23 km SE 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 36.1477, -118.0665. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Tulare County, CA 65 km (40 mi) W earthquakes near Tulare County
Inyo County, CA 75 km (47 mi) NE earthquakes near Inyo County
Kern County, CA 107 km (67 mi) SW earthquakes near Kern County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 11km ENE of Coso Junction, CA
  2. 1.5 27km W of Olancha, CA
  3. 1.8 11km ENE of Coso Junction, CA
  4. 1.6 10km ENE of Coso Junction, CA
  5. 1.8 30km W of Olancha, CA
  6. 1.8 33km ENE of Coso Junction, CA
  7. 2.2 16km NE of Little Lake, CA
  8. 2.8 30km E of Coso Junction, CA
  9. 1.9 31km E of Coso Junction, CA
  10. 1.6 16km NNE of Kernville, CA
  11. 1.9 30km E of Coso Junction, CA
  12. 1.9 8km NNW of Kernville, CA
  13. 1.6 28km ENE of Coso Junction, CA
  14. 1.9 6km WNW of Coso Junction, CA
  15. 1.6 12km E of Coso Junction, 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.