Earthquake near Big Pine, CA

This was a light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 166 km (103 mi) from the epicentre. In Big Pine, 11 km away, the estimate is intensity IV (light). 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.

Likely felt in: Big Pine 11 km, intensity IV · Bishop 18 km, intensity IV · West Bishop 18 km, intensity IV · Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek 20 km, intensity IV. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 220 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 790× the energy of this one
2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 35× the energy of this one
3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 25× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 4.8 about 220 tons of TNT
5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 450× more

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 (31 mi) since our catalogue begins in 2016. No other earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded this close in that time.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 19 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.4 The 1986 Chalfant Valley, California Earthquake · 37 km N of this epicentre Jul 21, 1986
2. 6.2 9 km SW of Aspen Springs, California · 49 km NW of this epicentre May 27, 1980
3. 6.1 4 km NNW of Round Valley, California · 34 km NNW of this epicentre Nov 23, 1984
4. 6.0 Near Bishop, California · 14 km N of this epicentre May 6, 1910
5. 5.9 18 km NNE of Mesa, California · 41 km N of this epicentre Jul 20, 1986

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 37.2023, -118.4035. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 1.7 32km E of Big Pine, CA 06:08 UTC
2. 1.8 2 km NE of Swall Meadows, California 19:37 UTC
3. 1.7 2 km NE of Swall Meadows, California 00:37 UTC
4. 2.6 7 km WSW of Aspen Springs, California 04:23 UTC
5. 1.7 7 km WSW of Aspen Springs, California 04:04 UTC
6. 1.6 8 km SSW of Wilkerson, California 23:20 UTC
7. 1.6 25 km E of Bishop, California 11:23 UTC
8. 2.8 4 km S of Round Valley, California 10:56 UTC
9. 3.4 6 km W of Big Pine, California 07:28 UTC
10. 2.2 6 km SW of Swall Meadows, California 16:42 UTC
11. 2.6 5 km SW of Swall Meadows, California 15:58 UTC
12. 2.5 5 km SW of Swall Meadows, California 15:54 UTC
13. 1.6 13 km SW of Aspen Springs, California 15:25 UTC
14. 1.7 13 km SW of Aspen Springs, California 14:13 UTC
15. 2.6 13 km SW of Aspen Springs, California 14:02 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 08:45 UTC. 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.