Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8md
Earthquake near Bishop, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Bishop in the 24 hours to 1:12 pm PST (21:12 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 9 km (5 mi) NW, at 9:02 pm PDT on 30 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Bishop
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 25 km (16 mi) southwest of Bishop, CA, at 10:38 pm PDT on 21 April 2018 (05:38 UTC), 13 km deep.
USGS: 20km WSW of Wilkerson, CA
- When
- 10:38 pm PDT on 21 April 2018 ()
- Where
- 25 km (16 mi) southwest of Bishop, CA · earthquakes near Bishop
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (md)
- Depth
- 13 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Mono County, 84 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Round Valley fault, 9 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 3118 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Bishop, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Bishop, 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Bishop, 25 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, Big Pine.
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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 840,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 75× the energy of this one
- 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 34,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 31 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 The 1986 Chalfant Valley, California Earthquake · 40 km NNE of this epicentre
- 6.2 9 km SW of Aspen Springs, California · 39 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 11 km WNW of Aspen Springs, California · 48 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 8 km W of Aspen Springs, California · 44 km NNW of this epicentre
- 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 37.1992, -118.5905. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mono County, CA | 84 km (52 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Mono County |
| Madera County, CA | 103 km (64 mi) | W | earthquakes near Madera County |
| Esmeralda County, NV | 106 km (66 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Fresno County, CA | 106 km (66 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Fresno County |
| Tulare County, CA | 109 km (68 mi) | S | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Mariposa County, CA | 124 km (77 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Mariposa County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
36 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 13km SW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.8 4km ESE of Round Valley, CA
- 1.7 12km WSW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.6 5km S of Round Valley, CA
- 2.2 12km ESE of Mammoth Lakes, CA
- 1.5 13km WNW of Toms Place, CA
- 2.2 13km WNW of Toms Place, CA
- 2.3 16km SE of Mammoth Lakes, CA
- 2.0 3km ENE of Round Valley, CA
- 1.6 6km NE of Big Pine, CA
- 1.7 8km NNE of Big Pine, CA
- 2.1 4km NE of Round Valley, CA
- 1.6 4km E of Round Valley, CA
- 1.6 7km NNW of Round Valley, CA
- 1.9 28km S of Mammoth Lakes, 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
- 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.