Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 50 km (31 mi) northwest of Ridgecrest, CA, at 11:19 am PST on 27 January 2020 (19:19 UTC), 6.2 km deep.
USGS: 7km SSW of Coso Junction, CA
- When
- 11:19 am PST on 27 January 2020 ()
- Where
- 50 km (31 mi) northwest of Ridgecrest, CA · earthquakes near Ridgecrest
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 6.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Tulare County, 76 km WNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Southern Sierra Nevada fault, 3 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 756 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Ridgecrest, 50 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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 6.6 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 2,300,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.6 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 200,000,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 18 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 32 km S of this epicentre
- 5.8 16km NNE of Ridgecrest, California · 40 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 30 km S of this epicentre
- 5.4 4km N of Inyokern, CA · 38 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.4 17km N of Ridgecrest, California · 38 km SE 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 35.9893, -117.9868. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tulare County, CA | 76 km (47 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Inyo County, CA | 82 km (51 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| Kern County, CA | 98 km (61 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Kern County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
39 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 23 km N of Ridgecrest, CA
- 2.8 14km WSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 2.2 20 km ESE of Little Lake, CA
- 1.7 21km ESE of Little Lake, CA
- 2.0 11 km NE of Coso Junction, CA
- 1.6 16 km W of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.9 15km NE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.9 13 km WSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 2.0 9 km ENE of Coso Junction, CA
- 1.5 23 km ESE of Little Lake, CA
- 1.9 17km W of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.6 14km NE of Coso Junction, CA
- 1.6 14km NE of Coso Junction, CA
- 2.7 20km W of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.7 15 km 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
- 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.