QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0ml

64km ENE of Big Pine, CA

Yes. A magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 64km ENE of Big Pine, CA, at 5:30 pm PDT on 23 May 2023 (00:30 UTC), 6.2 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

· 6.2 km deep · released about 1,100 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Esmeralda County 56 kmInyo County 81 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 3.0 (ml)
Depth
6.2 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Esmeralda County, 56 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Fish Lake Valley fault, 4 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 1202 days ago

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 38 km (24 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 1,100 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 310,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 14,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 9,800× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 1,100 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 2022-01-06 — about 370 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.1 46km E of Big Pine, California · 21 km SW of this epicentre
  2. 5.7 37 km SSE of Goldfield, Nevada · 46 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 39 km SSE of Goldfield, Nevada · 47 km ENE 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 37.2783, -117.5842. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Esmeralda County, NV 56 km (35 mi) N earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Inyo County, CA 81 km (50 mi) SSE earthquakes near Inyo County
Nye County, NV 125 km (78 mi) NE earthquakes near Nye County
Mono County, CA 134 km (83 mi) WNW earthquakes near Mono County
Tulare County, CA 158 km (98 mi) SW earthquakes near Tulare County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 51 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
  2. 1.5 52 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
  3. 1.5 California-Nevada border region
  4. 1.5 48 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
  5. 1.9 61 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
  6. 1.5 34 km ENE of Independence, California
  7. 1.8 38 km SSE of Dyer, Nevada
  8. 2.5 43 km E of Big Pine, CA
  9. 1.9 36 km SSE of Goldfield, Nevada
  10. 2.2 50 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
  11. 2.0 51 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
  12. 1.6 California-Nevada border region
  13. 1.5 58 km S of Goldfield, Nevada
  14. 2.0 57 km S of Goldfield, Nevada
  15. 1.5 39 km S of Goldfield, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.