Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.5ml
Earthquake near Big Pine, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Big Pine in the 24 hours to 12:25 pm PST (20:25 UTC). The last one was M 1.6, 9 km (6 mi) NNE, at 10:07 am PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Big Pine
This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 34 km (21 mi) east-southeast of Big Pine, CA, at 12:36 am PDT on 18 October 2021 (07:36 UTC), 1.8 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 34km ESE of Big Pine, CA
- When
- 12:36 am PDT on 18 October 2021 ()
- Where
- 34 km (21 mi) east-southeast of Big Pine, CA · earthquakes near Big Pine
- Magnitude
- M 2.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 1.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- 2 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Inyo County, 72 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Deep Springs fault, 20 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 1783 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Big Pine, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Big Pine, 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 22 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. In Big Pine, 34 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.
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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 86,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 61,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.4× the energy of this one
- 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 4.8 on 2016-02-16 — about 2,500 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.1 46km E of Big Pine, California · 19 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.5 10 km N of Independence, California · 29 km SW 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 37.0533, -117.9297. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inyo County, CA | 72 km (45 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| Esmeralda County, NV | 85 km (53 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Tulare County, CA | 119 km (74 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Mono County, CA | 127 km (79 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Mono County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
47 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.3 34km ESE of Big Pine, CA
- 2.4 33km ESE of Big Pine, CA
- 1.9 33km ESE of Big Pine, CA
- 2.7 33km ESE of Big Pine, CA
- 1.7 26 km E of Bishop, California
- 2.5 2km WNW of Wilkerson, CA
- 1.5 61 km WNW of Beatty, Nevada
- 1.8 33km ESE of Big Pine, CA
- 2.8 33km ESE of Big Pine, CA
- 2.4 34km ESE of Big Pine, CA
- 2.0 33km ESE of Big Pine, CA
- 1.9 34km ESE of Big Pine, CA
- 1.6 34km ESE of Big Pine, CA
- 1.5 52 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
- 1.5 53 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
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.