Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 5.4mw
Earthquake near Searles Valley, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Searles Valley in the 24 hours to 1:04 pm PST (21:04 UTC). The last one was M 2.7, 21 km (13 mi) N, at 11:15 am PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Searles Valley
This page: a magnitude 5.4 earthquake was recorded 15 km (10 mi) west of Searles Valley, CA, at 4:07 am PDT on 5 July 2019 (11:07 UTC), 7.0 km deep. 3,019 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 16km W of Searles Valley, CA
- When
- 4:07 am PDT on 5 July 2019 ()
- Where
- 15 km (10 mi) west of Searles Valley, CA · earthquakes near Searles Valley
- Magnitude
- M 5.4 (mw)
- Depth
- 7.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- 3,019 reports · strongest reported intensity VI
- Measured shaking
- intensity VII (ShakeMap)
- USGS impact alert
- green
- Tsunami
- USGS flagged this event for tsunami evaluation. Follow tsunami.gov for official messages.
- Nearest
- Inyo County, 90 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- Airport Lake fault, 14 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 325 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Searles Valley, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Searles Valley, 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 moderate earthquake. Shaking at this size can damage poorly built structures close to the epicentre.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 242 km (150 mi) from the epicentre. In Searles Valley, 15 km away, the estimate is intensity V (moderate). 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.
Likely felt in: Searles Valley 15 km, intensity V · Ridgecrest 18 km, intensity V. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1.7 kilotons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 6.4 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 99× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 4.4× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 3.1× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 5.4 about 1.7 kilotons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 3,600× 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
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 6.4 on 2019-07-04 — about 35 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 34 km W of this epicentre
- 5.8 16km NNE of Ridgecrest, California · 6 km W of this epicentre
- 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 33 km W of this epicentre
- 5.4 4km N of Inyokern, CA · 24 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.4 17km N of Ridgecrest, California · 8 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 35.7603, -117.5750. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inyo County, CA | 90 km (56 mi) | N | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| Kern County, CA | 114 km (71 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 120 km (75 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
60 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 6km SE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.5 10km SW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.7 16km W of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.7 15km W of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.7 14km W of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.6 13km SW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.5 16km W of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.9 15km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.8 10km SW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.5 12km SW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.8 15km W of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.8 9km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.5 14km W of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.7 16km W of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.6 13km WSW of Searles Valley, 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.