QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Inyokern, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Inyokern in the 24 hours to 11:54 am PST (19:54 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 38 km (23 mi) S, at 8:01 am PDT on 23 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Inyokern

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 9 km (5 mi) southwest of Inyokern, CA, at 2:31 am PDT on 18 April 2020 (09:31 UTC), 7.2 km deep.

USGS: 9km SW of Inyokern, CA

2:31 am PDT, Apr 18, 2020 · · 7.2 km deep · released about 5.7 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Inyokern Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kern County 81 kmTulare County 107 kmInyo County 116 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
2:31 am PDT on 18 April 2020 ()
Where
9 km (5 mi) southwest of Inyokern, CA · earthquakes near Inyokern
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
7.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kern County, 81 km WSW
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 2397 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 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Inyokern, 9 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: China Lake Acres, Ridgecrest.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.7 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 230,000,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 14 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 13 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 16km NNE of Ridgecrest, California · 29 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 5.7 12km NW of California City, California · 46 km SSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 15 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 4km N of Inyokern, CA · 11 km NNE 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 35.5935, -117.8838. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kern County, CA 81 km (51 mi) WSW earthquakes near Kern County
Tulare County, CA 107 km (67 mi) NW earthquakes near Tulare County
Inyo County, CA 116 km (72 mi) NNE earthquakes near Inyo County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

45 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.6 14km S of Searles Valley, CA
  2. 1.6 22km ESE of Little Lake, CA
  3. 2.1 22km N of Ridgecrest, CA
  4. 1.6 16km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
  5. 2.8 19km W of Searles Valley, CA
  6. 2.0 16km WNW of Johannesburg, CA
  7. 1.5 11km SW of Searles Valley, CA
  8. 2.6 22 km N of Ridgecrest, CA
  9. 1.6 5km W of Searles Valley, CA
  10. 2.5 23km ESE of Little Lake, CA
  11. 2.1 17km W of Searles Valley, CA
  12. 1.6 23km N of Ridgecrest, CA
  13. 1.7 20km NNE of Ridgecrest, CA
  14. 1.5 18km S of Trona, CA
  15. 2.5 16km 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.