QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6ml

Earthquake near China Lake Acres, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in China Lake Acres in the 24 hours to 8:12 am PST (16:12 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 37 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 China Lake Acres

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 46 km (29 mi) north of China Lake Acres, CA, at 3:11 pm PDT on 11 September 2025 (22:11 UTC), 1.9 km deep.

USGS: 9 km E of Coso Junction, CA

3:11 pm PDT, Sep 11, 2025 · · 1.9 km deep · released about 220 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near China Lake Acres Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Inyo County 70 kmTulare County 86 kmKern County 111 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
3:11 pm PDT on 11 September 2025 ()
Where
46 km (29 mi) north of China Lake Acres, CA · earthquakes near China Lake Acres
Magnitude
M 2.6 (ml)
Depth
1.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Inyo County, 70 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
Southern Sierra Nevada fault, 11 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 345 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 23 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. In China Lake Acres, 46 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 220 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 70,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 50,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 220 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 6,200,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 18 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 40 km SSW of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 16km NNE of Ridgecrest, California · 37 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 37 km SSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 4km N of Inyokern, CA · 41 km S of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 17km N of Ridgecrest, California · 35 km SSE 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 36.0495, -117.8517. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Inyo County, CA 70 km (43 mi) NE earthquakes near Inyo County
Tulare County, CA 86 km (53 mi) WNW earthquakes near Tulare County
Kern County, CA 111 km (69 mi) SW earthquakes near Kern County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 28 km WSW of Olancha, CA
  2. 1.9 21 km E of Little Lake, CA
  3. 1.7 15 km NE of Little Lake, CA
  4. 1.9 23 km ESE of Little Lake, CA
  5. 1.6 24 km ESE of Little Lake, CA
  6. 1.6 23 km ESE of Little Lake, CA
  7. 1.6 8 km NE of Coso Junction, CA
  8. 1.7 20 km NE of Olancha, CA
  9. 2.0 14 km SW of Searles Valley, CA
  10. 1.9 20 km ESE of Little Lake, CA
  11. 1.5 18 km E of Little Lake, CA
  12. 2.5 14 km W of Searles Valley, CA
  13. 1.9 13 km NE of Ridgecrest, CA
  14. 1.8 23 km ESE of Little Lake, CA
  15. 1.8 8 km ENE of Coso Junction, 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.