Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
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 1.7 earthquake was recorded 26 km (16 mi) east-southeast of Ridgecrest, CA, at 7:10 am PST on 21 December 2019 (15:10 UTC), 3.2 km deep.
USGS: 23 km S of Trona, CA
- When
- 7:10 am PST on 21 December 2019 ()
- Where
- 26 km (16 mi) east-southeast of Ridgecrest, CA · earthquakes near Ridgecrest
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 3.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Inyo County, 112 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- Garlock 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 877 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Ridgecrest, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Ridgecrest, CA. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Ridgecrest, 26 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Searles Valley.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 12 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,300,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 900,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 80× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 12 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 7.1 on 2019-07-06 — about 110,000,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.8 16km NNE of Ridgecrest, California · 32 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.4 4km N of Inyokern, CA · 41 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.4 17km N of Ridgecrest, California · 35 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.2 8km NE of Inyokern, CA · 36 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.2 15km NNE of Inyokern, CA · 43 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 35.5550, -117.3913. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inyo County, CA | 112 km (70 mi) | N | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 135 km (84 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
53 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 23km WNW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.7 22km WNW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.6 17km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.6 17km W of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.6 13km WSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 2.0 17km W of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.7 24km ESE of Little Lake, CA
- 2.3 16km ESE of Little Lake, CA
- 4.0 17km W of Searles Valley, CA
- 2.2 26km S of Trona, CA
- 1.7 18km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 2.0 21km N of Searles Valley, CA
- 2.1 17km W of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.5 14km SW of Searles Valley, CA
- 2.1 17km SSW 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.