QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 1.6ml

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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 43 km (27 mi) northeast of Ridgecrest, CA, at 5:08 am PDT on 9 July 2019 (12:08 UTC), 16 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.

USGS: 14km NNE of Trona, CA

5:08 am PDT, Jul 9, 2019 · · 16 km deep · released about 8.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Ridgecrest Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Inyo County 76 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
5:08 am PDT on 9 July 2019 ()
Where
43 km (27 mi) northeast of Ridgecrest, CA · earthquakes near Ridgecrest
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Inyo County, 76 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Ash Hill fault, 9 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2683 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Ridgecrest, 43 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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 8.4 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 1,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× 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 8.4 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 7.1 on 2019-07-06 — about 160,000,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.0 Death Valley area, California · 31 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 Death Valley area, California · 31 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 16km NNE of Ridgecrest, California · 32 km WSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 17km N of Ridgecrest, California · 34 km WSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 27km E of Coso Junction, California · 37 km NW 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 35.8830, -117.3140. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Inyo County, CA 76 km (47 mi) N earthquakes near Inyo County
San Bernardino County, CA 154 km (95 mi) SE earthquakes near San Bernardino County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 21km ESE of Little Lake, CA
  2. 2.0 24km NNE of Trona, CA
  3. 1.6 20km ESE of Little Lake, CA
  4. 1.9 24km ESE of Little Lake, CA
  5. 2.3 23km ESE of Little Lake, CA
  6. 1.7 22km E of Little Lake, CA
  7. 2.5 16km W of Searles Valley, CA
  8. 1.6 14km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
  9. 1.6 25km ENE of Little Lake, CA
  10. 1.6 14km NNE of Ridgecrest, CA
  11. 3.4 24km S of Trona, CA
  12. 1.9 14km WSW of Searles Valley, CA
  13. 1.5 18km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
  14. 1.5 8km N of Ridgecrest, CA
  15. 1.8 20km S 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.