QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

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 1.8 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) northeast of Ridgecrest, CA, at 9:55 am PST on 30 December 2020 (17:55 UTC), 2.3 km deep.

USGS: 14km NE of Ridgecrest, CA

9:55 am PST, Dec 30, 2020 · · 2.3 km deep · released about 17 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Ridgecrest Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Inyo County 96 kmKern County 113 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
9:55 am PST on 30 December 2020 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) northeast of Ridgecrest, CA · earthquakes near Ridgecrest
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
2.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Inyo County, 96 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Little Lake fault, 15 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 2143 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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Ridgecrest, 13 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.

Likely felt in: Ridgecrest 13 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 17 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 870,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 620,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 55× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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 78,000,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 34 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 16km NNE of Ridgecrest, California · 9 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 34 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 4km N of Inyokern, CA · 23 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 17km N of Ridgecrest, California · 11 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 35.7087, -117.5658. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Inyo County, CA 96 km (60 mi) N earthquakes near Inyo County
Kern County, CA 113 km (70 mi) WSW earthquakes near Kern County
Tulare County, CA 124 km (77 mi) WNW earthquakes near Tulare County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 14km SW of Searles Valley, CA
  2. 1.6 3km N of Little Lake, CA
  3. 1.9 4km NNW of Little Lake, CA
  4. 3.3 3km N of Little Lake, CA
  5. 3.5 3km N of Little Lake, CA
  6. 2.0 10km SW of Searles Valley, CA
  7. 1.7 21km NNW of Searles Valley, CA
  8. 2.6 20km W of Searles Valley, CA
  9. 2.0 22km NNW of Searles Valley, CA
  10. 3.3 21km NNW of Searles Valley, CA
  11. 1.6 17 km NNE of Ridgecrest, CA
  12. 2.1 14km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
  13. 1.6 13km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
  14. 1.6 14km N of Searles Valley, CA
  15. 1.8 13km WSW 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.