QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0ml

Earthquake near Death Valley, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Death Valley in the 24 hours to 9:03 am PST (17:03 UTC). The last one was M 4.0, 94 km (59 mi) WSW, at 12:59 am PDT on 23 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 8 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Death Valley

This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 48 km (30 mi) south of Death Valley, CA, at 6:18 am PDT on 24 July 2024 (13:18 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

USGS: 48 km WSW of Shoshone, CA

6:18 am PDT, Jul 24, 2024 · · 0.5 km deep · released about 1,100 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Death Valley Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Inyo County 102 kmSan Bernardino County 118 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
6:18 am PDT on 24 July 2024 ()
Where
48 km (30 mi) south of Death Valley, CA · earthquakes near Death Valley
Magnitude
M 3.0 (ml)
Depth
0.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Inyo County, 102 km NW
Nearest mapped fault
Southern Death Valley 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 765 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 39 km (24 mi) from the epicentre. In Death Valley, 48 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 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 4.2 on 2018-12-05 — about 55 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 6.0 Death Valley area, California · 31 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 Death Valley area, California · 31 km NW 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 35.8075, -116.7582. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Inyo County, CA 102 km (63 mi) NW earthquakes near Inyo County
San Bernardino County, CA 118 km (73 mi) SSE earthquakes near San Bernardino County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.7 32 km WSW of Tecopa, CA
  2. 1.2 26 km NNE of Trona, CA
  3. 1.5 17 km SSW of Tecopa, California
  4. 1.9 42 km ENE of Trona, CA
  5. 1.5 38 km WSW of Shoshone, California
  6. 1.5 19 km WNW of Shoshone, California
  7. 1.8 18 km SSW of Tecopa, California
  8. 1.5 37 km ENE of Trona, CA
  9. 1.7 19 km WSW of Tecopa, California
  10. 1.6 47 km ENE of Trona, CA
  11. 2.1 47 km ENE of Trona, CA
  12. 3.6 48 km ENE of Trona, CA
  13. 2.4 31 km WSW of Tecopa, CA
  14. 1.7 45 km NE of Trona, CA
  15. 1.9 45 km NE of Trona, 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.