QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9ml

Earthquake near Searles Valley, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Searles Valley in the 24 hours to 12:50 pm PST (20:50 UTC). The last one was M 2.7, 21 km (13 mi) N, at 11:15 am PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Searles Valley

This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 14 km (9 mi) south-southwest of Searles Valley, CA, at 6:04 pm PST on 16 January 2020 (02:04 UTC), 8.6 km deep.

USGS: 14km SSW of Searles Valley, CA

6:04 pm PST, Jan 16, 2020 · · 8.6 km deep · released about 24 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Searles Valley Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Inyo County 102 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
6:04 pm PST on 16 January 2020 ()
Where
14 km (9 mi) south-southwest of Searles Valley, CA · earthquakes near Searles Valley
Magnitude
M 1.9 (ml)
Depth
8.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Inyo County, 102 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Garlock fault, 16 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 2491 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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Searles Valley, 14 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: Ridgecrest, China Lake Acres.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 24 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 640,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 450,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 40× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 24 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 57,000,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 46 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 16km NNE of Ridgecrest, California · 22 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 46 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 4km N of Inyokern, CA · 35 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 17km N of Ridgecrest, California · 25 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 35.6425, -117.4403. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Inyo County, CA 102 km (64 mi) N earthquakes near Inyo County
Kern County, CA 121 km (75 mi) WSW earthquakes near Kern County
San Bernardino County, CA 144 km (89 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. 1.8 12km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
  2. 2.0 17 km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
  3. 2.2 24 km ESE of Little Lake, CA
  4. 1.6 15km NNE of Ridgecrest, CA
  5. 1.7 15 km S of Searles Valley, CA
  6. 1.7 16km W of Searles Valley, CA
  7. 1.9 20 km E of Little Lake, CA
  8. 1.6 17 km W of Searles Valley, CA
  9. 1.9 24km N of Searles Valley, CA
  10. 2.3 15 km SW of Searles Valley, CA
  11. 2.3 15 km SW of Searles Valley, CA
  12. 1.6 14km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
  13. 2.2 15 km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
  14. 1.7 13km WSW of Johannesburg, CA
  15. 1.7 22 km WNW 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.