QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.5mlr

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 3.5 earthquake was recorded 27 km (17 mi) east of Ridgecrest, CA, at 3:52 am PDT on 16 July 2019 (10:52 UTC), 5.5 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 18km S of Trona, CA

3:52 am PDT, Jul 16, 2019 · · 5.5 km deep · released about 2.5 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Ridgecrest Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Inyo 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
3:52 am PDT on 16 July 2019 ()
Where
27 km (17 mi) east of Ridgecrest, CA · earthquakes near Ridgecrest
Magnitude
M 3.5 (mlr)
Depth
5.5 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Measured shaking
intensity VI (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Inyo County, 107 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Garlock fault, 8 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 1898 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. In Ridgecrest, 27 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.

Likely felt in: Searles Valley 19 km, intensity III · Ridgecrest 27 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 7.1 on 2019-07-06 — about 270,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 5.8 16km NNE of Ridgecrest, California · 30 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.4 4km N of Inyokern, CA · 41 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 17km N of Ridgecrest, California · 33 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 8km NE of Inyokern, CA · 36 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 15km NNE of Inyokern, CA · 42 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 35.5990, -117.3718. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Inyo County, CA 107 km (67 mi) N earthquakes near Inyo County
San Bernardino County, CA 136 km (85 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

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

  1. 1.9 16km S of Searles Valley, CA
  2. 1.7 14km NE of Ridgecrest, CA
  3. 2.1 23km NNE of Trona, CA
  4. 2.3 20km E of Little Lake, CA
  5. 1.5 21km ESE of Little Lake, CA
  6. 1.8 13km SW of Searles Valley, CA
  7. 1.7 19km E of Little Lake, CA
  8. 2.9 20km WNW of Searles Valley, CA
  9. 1.6 18km S of Trona, CA
  10. 1.6 12km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
  11. 1.5 21km E of Little Lake, CA
  12. 2.0 14km SW of Searles Valley, CA
  13. 1.9 16km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
  14. 2.1 22km E of Little Lake, CA
  15. 1.6 25km N 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.