Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 2.3ml
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 2.3 earthquake was recorded 22 km (14 mi) east-southeast of Ridgecrest, CA, at 5:42 pm PDT on 2 August 2019 (00:42 UTC), 2.8 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.
USGS: 23km ESE of Ridgecrest, CA
- When
- 5:42 pm PDT on 2 August 2019 ()
- Where
- 22 km (14 mi) east-southeast of Ridgecrest, CA · earthquakes near Ridgecrest
- Magnitude
- M 2.3 (ml)
- Depth
- 2.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Inyo County, 114 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- Blackwater fault, 11 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 2659 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Ridgecrest, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Ridgecrest, 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 minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 19 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. In Ridgecrest, 22 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Searles Valley.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 77 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 200,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 140,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 12× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.3 about 77 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 18,000,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 48 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 16km NNE of Ridgecrest, California · 30 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 49 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.4 4km N of Inyokern, CA · 37 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.4 17km N of Ridgecrest, California · 33 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 35.5408, -117.4462. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inyo County, CA | 114 km (71 mi) | N | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| Kern County, CA | 118 km (73 mi) | W | earthquakes near Kern County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 138 km (86 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near San Bernardino County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
57 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.2 19km NNE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.7 11km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 2.5 21km S of Trona, CA
- 1.5 23km S of Trona, CA
- 1.6 20km N of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.5 18km NNE of Inyokern, CA
- 1.7 21km ESE of Little Lake, CA
- 1.7 26km S of Trona, CA
- 2.0 19km E of Little Lake, CA
- 1.6 16km W of Searles Valley, CA
- 2.1 11km NE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 2.1 14km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.6 13km SW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.8 12km SW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.6 22km N 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
- 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.