QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2ml

Earthquake near Searles Valley, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Searles Valley in the 24 hours to 1:02 pm PST (21:02 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 3.2 earthquake was recorded 15 km (9 mi) south-southwest of Searles Valley, CA, at 7:17 am PDT on 23 September 2020 (14:17 UTC), 7.3 km deep. 15 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 15km SSW of Searles Valley, CA

7:17 am PDT, Sep 23, 2020 · · 7.3 km deep · released about 1,900 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Searles Valley Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Inyo County 101 kmKern County 118 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
7:17 am PDT on 23 September 2020 ()
Where
15 km (9 mi) south-southwest of Searles Valley, CA · earthquakes near Searles Valley
Magnitude
M 3.2 (ml)
Depth
7.3 km below the surface
Felt
15 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Inyo County, 101 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Little Lake fault, 18 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 2168 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 46 km (29 mi) from the epicentre. In Searles Valley, 15 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 15 km, intensity III · Ridgecrest 17 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,900 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 180,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7,900× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,600× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,900 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2× 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 710,000 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 · 42 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 16km NNE of Ridgecrest, California · 18 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 42 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 4km N of Inyokern, CA · 30 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 17km N of Ridgecrest, California · 21 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 35.6528, -117.4870. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Inyo County, CA 101 km (63 mi) N earthquakes near Inyo County
Kern County, CA 118 km (73 mi) WSW earthquakes near Kern County
Tulare County, CA 133 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

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

  1. 2.1 13km SW of Searles Valley, CA
  2. 1.6 13km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
  3. 1.8 15km SW of Searles Valley, CA
  4. 2.1 18km W of Searles Valley, CA
  5. 2.1 24km WNW of Searles Valley, CA
  6. 2.2 21km ESE of Little Lake, CA
  7. 2.6 11km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
  8. 1.6 10km NE of Ridgecrest, CA
  9. 1.8 14km SW of Searles Valley, CA
  10. 1.8 19km S of Searles Valley, CA
  11. 1.6 21km ESE of Ridgecrest, CA
  12. 2.6 13km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
  13. 1.9 20km E of Little Lake, CA
  14. 2.0 23km ESE of Little Lake, CA
  15. 2.5 12km WSW of Searles Valley, 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.