Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Searles Valley, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Searles Valley in the 24 hours to 10:06 am PST (18:06 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) southwest of Searles Valley, CA, at 5:44 am PDT on 15 September 2020 (12:44 UTC), 7.0 km deep.
USGS: 11km SW of Searles Valley, CA
- When
- 5:44 am PDT on 15 September 2020 ()
- Where
- 11 km (7 mi) southwest of Searles Valley, CA · earthquakes near Searles Valley
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Inyo County, 97 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- Tank Canyon fault, 21 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 1648 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 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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Searles Valley, 11 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: Ridgecrest, China Lake Acres.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.4 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 210,000,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 43 km W of this epicentre
- 5.8 16km NNE of Ridgecrest, California · 17 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 43 km W of this epicentre
- 5.4 4km N of Inyokern, CA · 32 km W of this epicentre
- 5.4 17km N of Ridgecrest, California · 20 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 35.6873, -117.4703. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inyo County, CA | 97 km (61 mi) | N | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| Kern County, CA | 120 km (75 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 132 km (82 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 149 km (93 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.
- 2.0 23km ESE of Little Lake, CA
- 2.0 19km W of Johannesburg, CA
- 1.9 23km ESE of Little Lake, CA
- 2.2 20km ESE of Little Lake, CA
- 2.1 5km NNE of Little Lake, CA
- 1.8 16km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 2.4 17km W of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.7 12km SW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.9 28km N of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.9 13km SW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.5 20km ESE of Little Lake, CA
- 2.4 15km NE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.5 21km NNW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.7 14km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.6 19km ESE of Little Lake, 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.