QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.1ml

Earthquake near Lone Pine, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Lone Pine in the 24 hours to 12:27 pm PST (20:27 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 16 km (10 mi) SE, at 9:24 pm PDT on 29 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Lone Pine

This page: a magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) south-southeast of Lone Pine, CA, at 8:20 am PDT on 17 September 2020 (15:20 UTC), 3.7 km deep. 4 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 18km SSE of Lone Pine, CA

8:20 am PDT, Sep 17, 2020 · · 3.7 km deep · released about 1,200 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Lone Pine Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Inyo County 54 kmTulare County 75 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
8:20 am PDT on 17 September 2020 ()
Where
19 km (12 mi) south-southeast of Lone Pine, CA · earthquakes near Lone Pine
Magnitude
M 3.1 (ml)
Depth
3.7 km below the surface
Felt
4 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Inyo County, 54 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
Owens Valley fault, 3 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 2175 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 40 km (25 mi) from the epicentre. In Lone Pine, 19 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: Lone Pine 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 1,200 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 6.7 280,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 12,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 8,800× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.1 about 1,200 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.3× 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 5.8 on 2020-06-24 — about 12,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.2 7km ESE of Coso Junction, CA · 49 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 18km NE of Olancha, CA · 13 km ESE of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 18km NE of Olancha, CA · 13 km ESE 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 36.4422, -117.9922. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Inyo County, CA 54 km (34 mi) ENE earthquakes near Inyo County
Tulare County, CA 75 km (46 mi) WSW earthquakes near Tulare 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. 1.6 13km ESE of Olancha, CA
  2. 1.7 18km N of Olancha, CA
  3. 1.5 16km SSW of Olancha, CA
  4. 1.5 17km SE of Lone Pine, CA
  5. 2.6 16km E of Coso Junction, CA
  6. 1.5 10km E of Coso Junction, CA
  7. 1.7 17km SE of Lone Pine, CA
  8. 1.6 8km ENE of Coso Junction, CA
  9. 2.1 17km SSE of Lone Pine, CA
  10. 2.1 8km ENE of Coso Junction, CA
  11. 2.0 18km ESE of Lone Pine, CA
  12. 1.6 17km SSE of Lone Pine, CA
  13. 1.9 16km SE of Lone Pine, CA
  14. 2.8 18km SSE of Lone Pine, CA
  15. 1.7 18km NNE of Olancha, 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.