QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1ml

Earthquake near Lone Pine, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Lone Pine in the 24 hours to 12:26 pm PST (20:26 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 2.1 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) east of Lone Pine, CA, at 8:50 pm PDT on 21 September 2020 (03:50 UTC), 2.2 km deep.

USGS: 20km E of Lone Pine, CA

8:50 pm PDT, Sep 21, 2020 · · 2.2 km deep · released about 51 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Lone Pine Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Inyo County 40 kmTulare County 94 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
8:50 pm PDT on 21 September 2020 ()
Where
19 km (12 mi) east of Lone Pine, CA · earthquakes near Lone Pine
Magnitude
M 2.1 (ml)
Depth
2.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Inyo County, 40 km E
Nearest mapped fault
Hunter Mountain- Saline Valley fault, 5 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 2242 days ago

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 18 km (11 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 51 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 210,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 19× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 51 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 5.8 on 2020-06-24 — about 300,000 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 5.5 10 km N of Independence, California · 45 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 18km NE of Olancha, CA · 25 km S of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 18km NE of Olancha, CA · 25 km S 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 36.6117, -117.8473. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Inyo County, CA 40 km (25 mi) E earthquakes near Inyo County
Tulare County, CA 94 km (58 mi) WSW earthquakes near Tulare County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 18km SSE of Lone Pine, CA
  2. 2.2 18km SE of Lone Pine, CA
  3. 1.6 7 km WSW of Keeler, California
  4. 1.6 17km SE of Lone Pine, CA
  5. 1.5 26 km ENE of Keeler, California
  6. 1.9 19km SE of Lone Pine, CA
  7. 1.5 18km SE of Lone Pine, CA
  8. 2.3 19km NNE of Olancha, CA
  9. 1.8 51km NW of Stovepipe Wells, CA
  10. 1.6 18km N of Olancha, CA
  11. 1.7 18km SSE of Lone Pine, CA
  12. 2.0 34 km ESE of Big Pine, California
  13. 1.6 13km ESE of Olancha, CA
  14. 1.7 18km N of Olancha, CA
  15. 1.9 54 km NW of Furnace Creek, California

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.