Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
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 1.7 earthquake was recorded 24 km (15 mi) east of Ridgecrest, CA, at 1:10 pm PST on 24 December 2021 (21:10 UTC), 8.2 km deep.
USGS: 17km S of Trona, CA
- When
- 1:10 pm PST on 24 December 2021 ()
- Where
- 24 km (15 mi) east of Ridgecrest, CA · earthquakes near Ridgecrest
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Inyo County, 105 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- Garlock fault, 11 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 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 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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Ridgecrest, 24 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: Searles Valley.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,300,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 930,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 83× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 120,000,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 50 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 16km NNE of Ridgecrest, California · 27 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.4 4km N of Inyokern, CA · 38 km W of this epicentre
- 5.4 17km N of Ridgecrest, California · 30 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.2 8km NE of Inyokern, CA · 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 35.6138, -117.4023. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inyo County, CA | 105 km (66 mi) | N | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| San Bernardino County, CA | 139 km (87 mi) | SE | earthquakes near San Bernardino County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
46 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 13km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 2.3 14km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 2.0 21km ESE of Little Lake, CA
- 1.6 19km ESE of Little Lake, CA
- 1.9 20km NNE of Trona, CA
- 1.9 20km NNE of Trona, CA
- 1.6 18km W of Searles Valley, CA
- 2.2 20km NNE of Trona, CA
- 1.8 14km WSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 2.0 16km ESE of Little Lake, CA
- 1.8 26km NE of Johannesburg, CA
- 2.5 27km ESE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.8 22km N of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.6 22km N of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.9 14km ENE of Ridgecrest, 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.