QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near West Bishop, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in West Bishop in the 24 hours to 12:11 pm PST (20:11 UTC). The last one was M 1.9, 8 km (5 mi) NW, at 8:40 am PST on 13 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near West Bishop

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) northwest of West Bishop, CA, at 3:02 am PDT on 21 July 2017 (10:02 UTC), 9.0 km deep.

USGS: 1 km SE of Mesa, California

3:02 am PDT, Jul 21, 2017 · · 9.0 km deep · released about 12 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near West Bishop Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mono County 64 kmEsmeralda County 89 kmMadera County 110 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
3:02 am PDT on 21 July 2017 ()
Where
8 km (5 mi) northwest of West Bishop, CA · earthquakes near West Bishop
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
9.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mono County, 64 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
Fish Slough 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 3057 days ago

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 West Bishop, 8 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: West Bishop 8 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 12 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 80× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 12 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 36,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 40 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 The 1986 Chalfant Valley, California Earthquake · 16 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 9 km SW of Aspen Springs, California · 27 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 11 km WNW of Aspen Springs, California · 33 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 8 km W of Aspen Springs, California · 29 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 4 km NNW of Round Valley, California · 9 km NW 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 37.4100, -118.5278. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mono County, CA 64 km (40 mi) NNW earthquakes near Mono County
Esmeralda County, NV 89 km (55 mi) ENE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Madera County, CA 110 km (69 mi) WSW earthquakes near Madera County
Fresno County, CA 123 km (77 mi) SW earthquakes near Fresno County
Inyo County, CA 137 km (85 mi) SE earthquakes near Inyo County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 13 km SW of Aspen Springs, California
  2. 1.5 11 km WSW of Aspen Springs, California
  3. 1.8 7 km SSE of Mammoth Lakes, California
  4. 1.6 10 km WSW of Aspen Springs, California
  5. 1.6 9 km SW of Aspen Springs, California
  6. 1.6 8 km SSE of Mammoth Lakes, California
  7. 2.0 10 km WSW of Aspen Springs, California
  8. 1.8 6 km ESE of Bishop, California
  9. 1.8 15 km SSE of Mammoth Lakes, California
  10. 2.1 15 km SSE of Mammoth Lakes, California
  11. 1.9 9 km WSW of Aspen Springs, California
  12. 1.6 11 km WSW of Aspen Springs, California
  13. 1.9 10 km WSW of Aspen Springs, California
  14. 1.7 5 km S of Mammoth Lakes, California
  15. 1.6 8 km SSE of Mammoth Lakes, California

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.