QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5ml

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 2.5 earthquake was recorded 31 km (19 mi) north of Ridgecrest, CA, at 3:46 pm PST on 29 January 2021 (23:46 UTC), 2.5 km deep.

USGS: 20km ESE of Little Lake, CA

3:46 pm PST, Jan 29, 2021 · · 2.5 km deep · released about 180 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Ridgecrest Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Inyo County 78 kmTulare County 104 kmKern County 112 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
3:46 pm PST on 29 January 2021 ()
Where
31 km (19 mi) north of Ridgecrest, CA · earthquakes near Ridgecrest
Magnitude
M 2.5 (ml)
Depth
2.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Inyo County, 78 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault
Airport Lake fault, 5 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 2036 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 22 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. In Ridgecrest, 31 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, Inyokern, Searles Valley.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 180 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 86,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 61,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 180 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 7,700,000 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 · 31 km SW of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 16km NNE of Ridgecrest, California · 16 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 29 km SW of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 4km N of Inyokern, CA · 27 km SSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 17km N of Ridgecrest, California · 14 km SSE 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 35.8973, -117.6955. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Inyo County, CA 78 km (49 mi) NNE earthquakes near Inyo County
Tulare County, CA 104 km (65 mi) WNW earthquakes near Tulare County
Kern County, CA 112 km (69 mi) WSW earthquakes near Kern County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 18km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
  2. 1.5 23km NNE of Trona, CA
  3. 1.5 20km S of Trona, CA
  4. 1.7 24km NNE of Trona, CA
  5. 1.6 16km W of Searles Valley, CA
  6. 1.7 24km NNE of Trona, CA
  7. 1.6 24km NNE of Trona, CA
  8. 1.7 24km NNE of Trona, CA
  9. 1.7 15km SW of Searles Valley, CA
  10. 3.6 24km NNE of Trona, CA
  11. 1.9 10km SE of Olancha, CA
  12. 1.8 14km WNW of Searles Valley, CA
  13. 2.2 11km S of Olancha, CA
  14. 2.6 10km SE of Olancha, CA
  15. 1.7 21km 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

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