QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9ml

52km ENE of Independence, CA

Yes. A magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 52km ENE of Independence, CA, at 2:22 am PDT on 17 August 2021 (09:22 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

· -0.7 km deep · released about 25 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Inyo County 44 kmEsmeralda County 96 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
Magnitude
M 1.9 (ml)
Depth
-0.7 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Inyo County, 44 km SSE
Nearest mapped fault
Northern Death Valley fault, 22 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 1913 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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 25 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 620,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 440,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 39× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 25 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 4.7 on 2020-08-19 — about 15,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.1 46km E of Big Pine, California · 31 km NNW 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 36.9160, -117.6262. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Inyo County, CA 44 km (27 mi) SSE earthquakes near Inyo County
Esmeralda County, NV 96 km (60 mi) N earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Tulare County, CA 128 km (80 mi) SW earthquakes near Tulare County
Nye County, NV 156 km (97 mi) NE earthquakes near Nye County
Mono County, CA 157 km (97 mi) NW earthquakes near Mono County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 61 km WNW of Beatty, Nevada
  2. 1.5 56 km S of Goldfield, Nevada
  3. 1.7 61 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
  4. 1.5 61 km WNW of Beatty, Nevada
  5. 1.8 33km ESE of Big Pine, CA
  6. 2.8 33km ESE of Big Pine, CA
  7. 2.4 34km ESE of Big Pine, CA
  8. 2.0 33km ESE of Big Pine, CA
  9. 1.9 34km ESE of Big Pine, CA
  10. 1.6 34km ESE of Big Pine, CA
  11. 1.5 52 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
  12. 1.5 53 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
  13. 1.6 50 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
  14. 2.1 53 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
  15. 1.5 33 km NE of Independence, California

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.