Earthquake near Big Pine, CA

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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Big Pine, 4 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.

Likely felt in: Big Pine 4 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 31 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 480,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 340,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 31× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 31 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 14,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.4 The 1986 Chalfant Valley, California Earthquake · 46 km NNW of this epicentre Jul 21, 1986
2. 6.1 4 km NNW of Round Valley, California · 44 km NW of this epicentre Nov 23, 1984
3. 6.1 46km E of Big Pine, California · 49 km E of this epicentre May 17, 1993
4. 6.0 Near Bishop, California · 23 km NNW of this epicentre May 6, 1910
5. 5.9 18 km NNE of Mesa, California · 49 km NNW 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 37.1372, -118.3230. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 1.7 3 km NNW of West Bishop, California 05:48 UTC
2. 1.7 2 km NNW of West Bishop, California 05:47 UTC
3. 1.6 13 km N of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, California 03:06 UTC
4. 1.8 36 km ESE of Big Pine, California 06:34 UTC
5. 2.7 8 km ENE of Swall Meadows, California 03:44 UTC
6. 2.1 7 km SSW of Wilkerson, California 23:59 UTC
7. 2.0 29 km E of Big Pine, CA 23:01 UTC
8. 1.6 7 km SSW of Wilkerson, California 04:27 UTC
9. 1.6 24 km E of Bishop, California 17:09 UTC
10. 1.6 2 km E of Bishop, California 09:29 UTC
11. 1.8 2 km E of Bishop, California 09:27 UTC
12. 1.5 2 km E of Bishop, California 06:59 UTC
13. 1.7 8 km ENE of Wilkerson, California 08:54 UTC
14. 2.7 7 km ENE of Wilkerson, California 22:09 UTC
15. 1.8 7 km NE of Wilkerson, California 22:09 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 15:43 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.