Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.7ml
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 2.7 earthquake was recorded 48 km (30 mi) northeast of Ridgecrest, CA, at 12:47 pm PDT on 26 October 2021 (19:47 UTC), 1.6 km deep.
USGS: 20km NNE of Trona, CA
- When
- 12:47 pm PDT on 26 October 2021 ()
- Where
- 48 km (30 mi) northeast of Ridgecrest, CA · earthquakes near Ridgecrest
- Magnitude
- M 2.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 1.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Inyo County, 69 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- Ash Hill 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 1769 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 24 km (15 mi) from the epicentre. In Ridgecrest, 48 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.
Likely felt in: Searles Valley 21 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 310 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 50,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 35,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.1× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.7 about 310 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 4,400,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.0 Death Valley area, California · 29 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.9 Death Valley area, California · 29 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.8 16km NNE of Ridgecrest, California · 35 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.4 17km N of Ridgecrest, California · 36 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.3 27km E of Coso Junction, California · 33 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 35.9410, -117.3195. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inyo County, CA | 69 km (43 mi) | N | earthquakes near Inyo County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
51 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 11km SW of Searles Valley, CA
- 2.0 20km ESE of Little Lake, CA
- 1.9 23km ESE of Little Lake, CA
- 2.5 14km NE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.7 14km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.7 19km E of Little Lake, CA
- 1.5 22km S of Trona, CA
- 2.8 15km SW of Searles Valley, CA
- 3.2 15km SW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.8 19km E of Little Lake, CA
- 1.5 13km E of Coso Junction, CA
- 1.6 13km E of Coso Junction, CA
- 2.2 8km ESE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.6 15km ESE of Little Lake, CA
- 1.7 15km ESE 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
- 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.