QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1ml

Earthquake near Searles Valley, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Searles Valley in the 24 hours to 12:06 pm PST (20:06 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 3.1 earthquake was recorded 12 km (7 mi) south-southwest of Searles Valley, CA, at 7:41 pm PDT on 20 July 2019 (02:41 UTC), 8.8 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 12km SSW of Searles Valley, CA

7:41 pm PDT, Jul 20, 2019 · · 8.8 km deep · released about 1,300 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Searles Valley Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Inyo County 99 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
7:41 pm PDT on 20 July 2019 ()
Where
12 km (7 mi) south-southwest of Searles Valley, CA · earthquakes near Searles Valley
Magnitude
M 3.1 (ml)
Depth
8.8 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Inyo County, 99 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Garlock fault, 20 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 1903 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 41 km (25 mi) from the epicentre. In Searles Valley, 12 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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 12 km, intensity III · Ridgecrest 19 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,300 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 250,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 11,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 7,900× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,300 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.4× 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 1,000,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 43 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 16km NNE of Ridgecrest, California · 18 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 43 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 4km N of Inyokern, CA · 32 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 17km N of Ridgecrest, California · 21 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 35.6723, -117.4652. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Inyo County, CA 99 km (62 mi) N earthquakes near Inyo County
Kern County, CA 120 km (75 mi) WSW earthquakes near Kern County
Tulare County, CA 134 km (83 mi) WNW earthquakes near Tulare County
San Bernardino County, CA 148 km (92 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. 2.6 22km WNW of Searles Valley, CA
  2. 1.8 12km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
  3. 1.9 23km ESE of Little Lake, CA
  4. 1.6 22km WNW of Searles Valley, CA
  5. 1.7 12km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
  6. 1.9 12km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
  7. 1.7 17km SSW of Trona, CA
  8. 2.2 23km ESE of Little Lake, CA
  9. 1.7 13km WSW of Searles Valley, CA
  10. 1.6 18km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
  11. 2.0 13km WSW of Searles Valley, CA
  12. 3.1 15km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
  13. 1.6 13km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
  14. 1.9 14km W of Searles Valley, CA
  15. 3.2 18km E of Ridgecrest, 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.