Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Big Pine, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Big Pine in the 24 hours to 10:24 am PST (18:24 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 1.8 earthquake was recorded 29 km (18 mi) south-southeast of Big Pine, CA, at 6:58 am PDT on 17 October 2023 (13:58 UTC), 2.9 km deep.
USGS: 12 km N of Independence, CA
- When
- 6:58 am PDT on 17 October 2023 ()
- Where
- 29 km (18 mi) south-southeast of Big Pine, CA · earthquakes near Big Pine
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 2.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Inyo County, 82 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Southern Sierra Nevada 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 1122 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Big Pine, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Big Pine, 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 13 km (8 mi) from the epicentre. In Big Pine, 29 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 13 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 810,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 72× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 13 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 33,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.1 46km E of Big Pine, California · 49 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.5 10 km N of Independence, California · 2 km ESE 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 36.9057, -118.2193. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inyo County, CA | 82 km (51 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| Tulare County, CA | 90 km (56 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Esmeralda County, NV | 110 km (68 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Mono County, CA | 126 km (79 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Mono County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
50 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 20 km W of Lone Pine, CA
- 1.6 5 km SSE of Independence, CA
- 1.8 7 km SE of Big Pine, CA
- 1.9 43 km ENE of Independence, California
- 1.8 8 km SE of Big Pine, CA
- 1.6 7 km SE of Wilkerson, CA
- 2.1 15 km N of Independence, CA
- 2.5 26 km WSW of Big Pine, CA
- 2.5 10 km WSW of Wilkerson, CA
- 2.3 18 km WSW of Deep Springs, CA
- 1.6 33 km NE of Independence, California
- 1.6 14 km SSE of Big Pine, California
- 2.8 17 km ENE of Big Pine, CA
- 1.9 9 km NNE of Big Pine, CA
- 2.6 19 km W of Wilkerson, 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.