QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9ml

Earthquake near Big Pine, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Big Pine in the 24 hours to 11:02 am PST (19:02 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 1.9 earthquake was recorded 33 km (21 mi) east-southeast of Big Pine, CA, at 6:10 am PDT on 17 April 2022 (13:10 UTC), 4.0 km deep.

USGS: 33km ESE of Big Pine, CA

6:10 am PDT, Apr 17, 2022 · · 4.0 km deep · released about 25 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Inyo County 74 kmEsmeralda County 83 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
6:10 am PDT on 17 April 2022 ()
Where
33 km (21 mi) east-southeast of Big Pine, CA · earthquakes near Big Pine
Magnitude
M 1.9 (ml)
Depth
4.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Inyo County, 74 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
Deep Springs fault, 18 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 1669 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. In Big Pine, 33 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 25 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 420,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 38× 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 4.8 on 2016-02-16 — about 17,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.1 46km E of Big Pine, California · 17 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 10 km N of Independence, California · 31 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 37.0742, -117.9305. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Inyo County, CA 74 km (46 mi) SE earthquakes near Inyo County
Esmeralda County, NV 83 km (51 mi) NNE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Tulare County, CA 121 km (75 mi) SW earthquakes near Tulare County
Mono County, CA 125 km (78 mi) NW earthquakes near Mono 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.

  1. 1.7 8km NE of Big Pine, CA
  2. 2.4 8km NE of Big Pine, CA
  3. 2.0 8km NE of Big Pine, CA
  4. 1.7 10 km NE of Big Pine, California
  5. 1.7 50 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
  6. 2.1 13km WSW of Deep Springs, CA
  7. 2.0 9km ENE of Big Pine, CA
  8. 2.1 7km ESE of Deep Springs, CA
  9. 1.8 10km NNW of Independence, CA
  10. 1.8 9km SE of Deep Springs, CA
  11. 1.8 27 km ESE of Big Pine, California
  12. 1.6 13 km NE of Big Pine, California
  13. 2.1 7km SE of Deep Springs, CA
  14. 1.6 32km ESE of Big Pine, CA
  15. 2.3 9km NE of Big Pine, 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

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