Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.2ml
Earthquake near Death Valley, CA
Yes. A magnitude 2.2 earthquake was recorded 36 km (23 mi) west of Death Valley, CA, at 10:12 pm PST on 12 November 2026 (06:12 UTC), 1.4 km deep. No felt reports to USGS yet.
USGS: 37 km S of Stovepipe Wells, CA
- When
- 10:12 pm PST on 12 November 2026 ()
- Where
- 36 km (23 mi) west of Death Valley, CA · earthquakes near Death Valley
- Magnitude
- M 2.2 (ml)
- Depth
- 1.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Inyo County, 36 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Towne Pass fault, 2 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 22 hours ago
Earthquake alerts for Death Valley, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Death Valley, 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 18 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Death Valley, 36 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 56 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.2 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 270,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 190,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 17× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.2 about 56 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 4.7 on 2020-08-19 — about 6,500 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.0 Death Valley area, California · 36 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.9 Death Valley area, California · 36 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.3 27km E of Coso Junction, California · 45 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.2 28km E of Coso Junction, California · 45 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.0 30km E of Coso Junction, California · 43 km WSW 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 36.2763, -117.2137. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inyo County, CA | 36 km (22 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Inyo County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
No further earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
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.
Revisions
USGS refines a solution as more stations report. Every change we have seen is listed here.
| What changed | From | To | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| review status | automatic | reviewed | |
| longitude | -117.21 | -117.21 | |
| latitude | 36.28 | 36.28 | |
| depth | 1.61 | 1.42 | |
| magnitude | 2.16 | 2.18 | |
| longitude | -117.21 | -117.21 | |
| latitude | 36.27 | 36.28 | |
| depth | 1.11 | 1.61 | |
| magnitude | 2.3 | 2.16 |
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.