QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Searles Valley, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Searles Valley in the 24 hours to 9:28 am PST (17:28 UTC). The last one was M 2.7, 21 km (13 mi) N, at 11:15 am PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Searles Valley

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 14 km (9 mi) west-southwest of Searles Valley, CA, at 11:12 pm PDT on 23 April 2021 (06:12 UTC), 6.9 km deep.

USGS: 14km WSW of Searles Valley, CA

11:12 pm PDT, Apr 23, 2021 · · 6.9 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Searles Valley Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Inyo County 95 kmKern County 114 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
11:12 pm PDT on 23 April 2021 ()
Where
14 km (9 mi) west-southwest of Searles Valley, CA · earthquakes near Searles Valley
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
6.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Inyo County, 95 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Little Lake fault, 17 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 2028 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 Searles Valley, 14 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: Ridgecrest, China Lake Acres, Inyokern.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.4 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 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 250,000,000 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 · 36 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 16km NNE of Ridgecrest, California · 9 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 35 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 4km N of Inyokern, CA · 25 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 17km N of Ridgecrest, California · 12 km WNW 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 35.7202, -117.5512. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Inyo County, CA 95 km (59 mi) N earthquakes near Inyo County
Kern County, CA 114 km (71 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

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

  1. 1.6 13km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
  2. 2.0 12km SW of Searles Valley, CA
  3. 1.9 13km S of Searles Valley, CA
  4. 1.5 13km NE of Little Lake, CA
  5. 1.6 15km W of Searles Valley, CA
  6. 2.1 20km S of Trona, CA
  7. 2.5 20km S of Trona, CA
  8. 1.6 22km E of Little Lake, CA
  9. 1.5 20km E of Little Lake, CA
  10. 2.3 15km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
  11. 1.5 23km NNW of Searles Valley, CA
  12. 1.5 17km W of Searles Valley, CA
  13. 1.6 17km W of Searles Valley, CA
  14. 1.5 23km ESE of Little Lake, CA
  15. 2.4 18km E of Little Lake, 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.