QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2ml

Earthquake near Ridgecrest, CA

Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Ridgecrest in the last 24 hours. M 1.5, 7 km (4 mi) E of Ridgecrest, at 3:54 am PST on 12 November 2026 (11:54 UTC); the estimated shaking in Ridgecrest was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Ridgecrest

This page: a magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 33 km (20 mi) north of Ridgecrest, CA, at 10:37 pm PDT on 22 August 2019 (05:37 UTC), 8.3 km deep. 3 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 20km E of Little Lake, CA

10:37 pm PDT, Aug 22, 2019 · · 8.3 km deep · released about 1,900 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Ridgecrest Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Inyo County 76 kmTulare County 104 kmKern County 114 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
10:37 pm PDT on 22 August 2019 ()
Where
33 km (20 mi) north of Ridgecrest, CA · earthquakes near Ridgecrest
Magnitude
M 3.2 (ml)
Depth
8.3 km below the surface
Felt
3 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Inyo County, 76 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault
Airport Lake fault, 7 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 1862 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 Ridgecrest, 33 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: Searles Valley 30 km, intensity II · Ridgecrest 33 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,900 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 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 33 km SW of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 16km NNE of Ridgecrest, California · 18 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 31 km SW of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 4km N of Inyokern, CA · 29 km SSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 17km N of Ridgecrest, California · 16 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 35.9155, -117.6850. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Inyo County, CA 76 km (47 mi) NNE earthquakes near Inyo County
Tulare County, CA 104 km (65 mi) WNW earthquakes near Tulare County
Kern County, CA 114 km (71 mi) WSW earthquakes near Kern County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 9km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
  2. 1.8 14km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
  3. 1.6 12km NE of Coso Junction, CA
  4. 3.1 20km NW of Searles Valley, CA
  5. 2.4 14km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
  6. 2.3 14km WSW of Searles Valley, CA
  7. 1.6 7km ESE of Ridgecrest, CA
  8. 1.9 20km ESE of Little Lake, CA
  9. 2.3 17km S of Searles Valley, CA
  10. 1.9 20km ESE of Little Lake, CA
  11. 3.5 19km SSW of Trona, CA
  12. 1.7 23km ESE of Ridgecrest, CA
  13. 1.7 14km WSW of Searles Valley, CA
  14. 2.4 28km N of Searles Valley, CA
  15. 1.5 16km W 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.