Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
23km NW of Ludlow, CA
Yes. A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 23km NW of Ludlow, CA, at 3:40 am PDT on 18 March 2020 (10:40 UTC), 7.7 km deep.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Bernardino County, 16 km E
- Nearest mapped fault
- Pisgah-Bullion fault, 14 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 2430 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Fort Irwin, CA
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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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. 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 7.1 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.1 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 4.3 on 2016-02-20 — about 12,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 11 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.1 The 1999 Hector Mine, California Earthquake · 28 km SSE of this epicentre
- 6.5 The 1947 Manix, California Earthquake · 22 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 13km WSW of Ludlow, CA · 19 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.4 21km SW of Ludlow, California · 29 km S of this epicentre
- 5.4 32km SSW of Ludlow, California · 46 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 34.8420, -116.3592. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Bernardino County, CA | 16 km (10 mi) | E | 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.
- 2.6 22km NW of Ludlow, CA
- 2.4 22km NW of Ludlow, CA
- 1.6 23km NW of Ludlow, CA
- 2.4 23km NW of Ludlow, CA
- 3.3 22km NW of Ludlow, CA
- 2.1 23km NW of Ludlow, CA
- 2.6 23km NW of Ludlow, CA
- 1.7 23km NW of Ludlow, CA
- 2.4 22km NW of Ludlow, CA
- 1.7 8km WSW of Ludlow, CA
- 2.0 22km NW of Ludlow, CA
- 2.5 23km NW of Ludlow, CA
- 2.1 23km NW of Ludlow, CA
- 3.0 23km NW of Ludlow, CA
- 2.6 23km NW of Ludlow, 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.