Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Inyokern, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Inyokern in the 24 hours to 8:58 am PST (16:58 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 1.8 earthquake was recorded 9 km (5 mi) southwest of Inyokern, CA, at 3:32 am PDT on 18 April 2020 (10:32 UTC), 7.4 km deep.
USGS: 8km SW of Inyokern, CA
- When
- 3:32 am PDT on 18 April 2020 ()
- Where
- 9 km (5 mi) southwest of Inyokern, CA · earthquakes near Inyokern
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 82 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
Earthquake alerts for Inyokern, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Inyokern, 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 11 km (7 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 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 730,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 65× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 92,000,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 14 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 13 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 16km NNE of Ridgecrest, California · 29 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.7 12km NW of California City, California · 46 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 15 km NNW of this epicentre
- 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 35.5952, -117.8820. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 82 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.
- 1.6 22km N of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.6 14km S of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.6 22km ESE of Little Lake, CA
- 2.1 22km N of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.6 16km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 2.8 19km W of Searles Valley, CA
- 2.0 16km WNW of Johannesburg, CA
- 1.5 11km SW of Searles Valley, CA
- 2.6 22 km N of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.6 5km W of Searles Valley, CA
- 2.5 23km ESE of Little Lake, CA
- 2.1 17km W of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.6 23km N of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.7 20km NNE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.5 18km S of Trona, 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.