QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3ml

Earthquake near Big Pine, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Big Pine in the 24 hours to 6:11 pm PST (02:11 UTC). The last one was M 1.6, 9 km (6 mi) NNE, at 10:07 am PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Big Pine

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 22 km (13 mi) south-southeast of Big Pine, CA, at 12:59 am PDT on 14 August 2019 (07:59 UTC), 8.9 km deep.

USGS: 20km N of Independence, CA

12:59 am PDT, Aug 14, 2019 · · 8.9 km deep · released about 82 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Big Pine Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Inyo County 88 kmTulare County 96 kmEsmeralda County 104 kmMono County 119 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
12:59 am PDT on 14 August 2019 ()
Where
22 km (13 mi) south-southeast of Big Pine, CA · earthquakes near Big Pine
Magnitude
M 2.3 (ml)
Depth
8.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Inyo County, 88 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Southern Sierra Nevada fault, 6 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 2647 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 Big Pine, 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 82 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 180,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 12× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 82 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 4.8 on 2016-02-16 — about 5,200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.1 46km E of Big Pine, California · 47 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 Near Bishop, California · 43 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 4 km SSW of Bishop, California · 43 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 10 km N of Independence, California · 9 km SSE 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 36.9752, -118.2410. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Inyo County, CA 88 km (54 mi) ESE earthquakes near Inyo County
Tulare County, CA 96 km (60 mi) SSW earthquakes near Tulare County
Esmeralda County, NV 104 km (65 mi) NNE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Mono County, CA 119 km (74 mi) NNW earthquakes near Mono County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 26 km E of Big Pine, California
  2. 1.9 4km SSW of Big Pine, CA
  3. 2.0 4km NNE of Big Pine, CA
  4. 1.8 26km SW of Big Pine, CA
  5. 1.8 25km SW of Big Pine, CA
  6. 1.6 2km SSE of West Bishop, CA
  7. 1.8 6 km ESE of Lone Pine, CA
  8. 1.6 40 km E of Big Pine, California
  9. 2.1 6 km ESE of Lone Pine, CA
  10. 1.6 4 km ESE of Lone Pine, CA
  11. 2.0 6km ESE of Lone Pine, CA
  12. 1.7 10km S of Round Valley, CA
  13. 1.5 17km S of Round Valley, CA
  14. 1.6 38 km ENE of Independence, California
  15. 2.1 20km SSW of Big Pine, 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.