QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Bishop, CA

Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Bishop in the last 24 hours. M 1.9, 12 km (8 mi) WNW of Bishop, at 8:40 am PST on 13 November 2026 (16:40 UTC); the estimated shaking in Bishop was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Bishop

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 29 km (18 mi) southwest of Bishop, CA, at 5:36 pm PST on 6 December 2017 (01:36 UTC), 14 km deep.

USGS: 24km WSW of Wilkerson, CA

5:36 pm PST, Dec 6, 2017 · · 14 km deep · released about 13 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mono County 82 kmMadera County 98 kmFresno County 102 kmTulare County 109 kmEsmeralda County 110 kmMariposa County 120 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
5:36 pm PST on 6 December 2017 ()
Where
29 km (18 mi) southwest of Bishop, CA · earthquakes near Bishop
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mono County, 82 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
Round Valley fault, 8 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 3263 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Bishop, 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: West Bishop, Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek.

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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 810,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 72× the energy of this one
  4. 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 31 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 The 1986 Chalfant Valley, California Earthquake · 42 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 9 km SW of Aspen Springs, California · 37 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 11 km WNW of Aspen Springs, California · 47 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 8 km W of Aspen Springs, California · 42 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 4 km NNW of Round Valley, California · 29 km N 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 37.1988, -118.6423. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mono County, CA 82 km (51 mi) NNW earthquakes near Mono County
Madera County, CA 98 km (61 mi) W earthquakes near Madera County
Fresno County, CA 102 km (64 mi) WSW earthquakes near Fresno County
Tulare County, CA 109 km (67 mi) S earthquakes near Tulare County
Esmeralda County, NV 110 km (68 mi) NE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Mariposa County, CA 120 km (74 mi) WNW earthquakes near Mariposa County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.1 16km WSW of Toms Place, CA
  2. 2.2 11km W of Toms Place, CA
  3. 1.6 14km W of Toms Place, CA
  4. 2.5 17km ENE of Toms Place, CA
  5. 1.6 5km NW of Round Valley, CA
  6. 2.0 13km WNW of Toms Place, CA
  7. 1.6 16km WSW of Toms Place, CA
  8. 2.1 11km W of Toms Place, CA
  9. 1.8 14km ESE of Mammoth Lakes, CA
  10. 1.6 14km W of Toms Place, CA
  11. 1.6 14km W of Toms Place, CA
  12. 1.9 11km W of Toms Place, CA
  13. 2.4 11km W of Toms Place, CA
  14. 1.8 14km W of Toms Place, CA
  15. 2.3 11km W of Toms Place, 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.