Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.4ml
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 2.4 earthquake was recorded 23 km (15 mi) east of Ridgecrest, CA, at 11:00 am PST on 20 February 2020 (19:00 UTC), 4.2 km deep.
USGS: 18km S of Trona, CA
- When
- 11:00 am PST on 20 February 2020 ()
- Where
- 23 km (15 mi) east of Ridgecrest, CA · earthquakes near Ridgecrest
- Magnitude
- M 2.4 (ml)
- Depth
- 4.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Inyo County, 106 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- Garlock fault, 11 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 1870 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 21 km (13 mi) from the epicentre. In Ridgecrest, 23 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 18 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 120 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 130,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 92,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 8.2× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.4 about 120 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 12,000,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 49 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 16km NNE of Ridgecrest, California · 27 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 50 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.4 4km N of Inyokern, CA · 38 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.4 17km N of Ridgecrest, California · 29 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 35.6060, -117.4120. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inyo County, CA | 106 km (66 mi) | N | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| Kern County, CA | 123 km (76 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Kern County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 139 km (87 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
59 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 9km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.5 17km ESE of Little Lake, CA
- 1.6 21km N of Ridgecrest, CA
- 2.6 14km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 2.2 10km WSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 2.2 15km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.8 14 km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.9 17 km E of Little Lake, CA
- 1.8 17km W of Johannesburg, CA
- 1.9 16 km W of Searles Valley, CA
- 2.1 13 km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 3.1 23km ESE of Little Lake, CA
- 2.1 23 km ESE of Little Lake, CA
- 2.3 14 km NE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.5 22km NE of Johannesburg, 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.