Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.4ml
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 3.4 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) east-northeast of Ridgecrest, CA, at 5:32 am PDT on 2 October 2020 (12:32 UTC), 6.1 km deep. 51 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 12km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
- When
- 5:32 am PDT on 2 October 2020 ()
- Where
- 11 km (7 mi) east-northeast of Ridgecrest, CA · earthquakes near Ridgecrest
- Magnitude
- M 3.4 (ml)
- Depth
- 6.1 km below the surface
- Felt
- 51 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Measured shaking
- intensity III (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Inyo County, 103 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- Little Lake fault, 13 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 2161 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Ridgecrest, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Ridgecrest, 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 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 57 km (35 mi) from the epicentre. In Ridgecrest, 11 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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 11 km, intensity III · Searles Valley 19 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1.9 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.4 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 89,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 4,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,800× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.4 about 1.9 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 4× more
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 350,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 15 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 36 km W of this epicentre
- 5.8 16km NNE of Ridgecrest, California · 15 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 37 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.4 4km N of Inyokern, CA · 25 km W of this epicentre
- 5.4 17km N of Ridgecrest, California · 18 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 35.6430, -117.5482. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inyo County, CA | 103 km (64 mi) | N | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| Kern County, CA | 112 km (70 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 129 km (80 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
59 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 13km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.6 18km W of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.9 9km ESE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.8 15km N of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.8 21km ENE of Little Lake, CA
- 2.0 15km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.8 15km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 2.0 16km SSW of Trona, CA
- 1.6 24km ENE of Little Lake, CA
- 1.6 14km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 2.0 20km ESE of Little Lake, CA
- 1.7 23km N of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.5 4km NNE of Little Lake, CA
- 2.6 23km N of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.7 13km SSW 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
- 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.