QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1ml

Earthquake near Inyokern, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Inyokern in the 24 hours to 8:51 am PST (16:51 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 38 km (23 mi) S, at 8:01 am PDT on 23 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Inyokern

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 22 km (14 mi) northwest of Inyokern, CA, at 6:06 am PDT on 26 April 2022 (13:06 UTC), 2.2 km deep.

USGS: 22km NW of Inyokern, CA

6:06 am PDT, Apr 26, 2022 · · 2.2 km deep · released about 37 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Inyokern Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kern County 79 kmTulare County 87 kmInyo County 105 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
6:06 am PDT on 26 April 2022 ()
Where
22 km (14 mi) northwest of Inyokern, CA · earthquakes near Inyokern
Magnitude
M 2.1 (ml)
Depth
2.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kern County, 79 km SW
Nearest mapped fault
Southern Sierra Nevada fault, 13 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 1661 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 17 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Inyokern, 22 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: China Lake Acres, Weldon.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 37 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 410,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 290,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 26× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 37 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 36,000,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 15 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 9 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 16km NNE of Ridgecrest, California · 34 km E of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 8 km ESE of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 4km N of Inyokern, CA · 20 km ESE of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 17km N of Ridgecrest, California · 32 km E 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 35.7563, -118.0143. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kern County, CA 79 km (49 mi) SW earthquakes near Kern County
Tulare County, CA 87 km (54 mi) NW earthquakes near Tulare County
Inyo County, CA 105 km (65 mi) NNE 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.

  1. 1.5 5km WNW of Wofford Heights, CA
  2. 1.8 13km SE of Bodfish, CA
  3. 1.6 21km ESE of Little Lake, CA
  4. 3.1 20km NNE of Ridgecrest, CA
  5. 1.6 20km ESE of Little Lake, CA
  6. 2.8 20km ESE of Little Lake, CA
  7. 1.6 17km W of Searles Valley, CA
  8. 1.6 7km ENE of Coso Junction, CA
  9. 1.5 6km NNE of Little Lake, CA
  10. 2.0 6km SE of Coso Junction, CA
  11. 1.6 12km WSW of Searles Valley, CA
  12. 1.6 12km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
  13. 1.8 15km SW of Searles Valley, CA
  14. 1.7 11km NE of Coso Junction, CA
  15. 2.0 13km SE of Bodfish, 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.