QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Big Pine, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Big Pine in the 24 hours to 8:11 am PST (16:11 UTC). The last one was M 1.6, 9 km (6 mi) NNE, at 10:07 am PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Big Pine

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 9 km (5 mi) northwest of Big Pine, CA, at 9:16 pm PDT on 23 April 2018 (04:16 UTC), 4.7 km deep.

USGS: 6km SE of Wilkerson, CA

9:16 pm PDT, Apr 23, 2018 · · 4.7 km deep · released about 6.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Big Pine Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Esmeralda County 88 kmMono County 90 kmInyo County 112 kmTulare County 118 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
9:16 pm PDT on 23 April 2018 ()
Where
9 km (5 mi) northwest of Big Pine, CA · earthquakes near Big Pine
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
4.7 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Esmeralda County, 88 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
Southern Sierra Nevada fault, 4 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 3124 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 Big Pine, 9 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 9 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.4 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 68,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 18 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 The 1986 Chalfant Valley, California Earthquake · 35 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 4 km NNW of Round Valley, California · 35 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 Near Bishop, California · 13 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.9 18 km NNE of Mesa, California · 39 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 10 km NNE of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, California · 27 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 37.2282, -118.3462. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Esmeralda County, NV 88 km (55 mi) NE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Mono County, CA 90 km (56 mi) NNW earthquakes near Mono County
Inyo County, CA 112 km (69 mi) SE earthquakes near Inyo County
Tulare County, CA 118 km (73 mi) SSW earthquakes near Tulare County
Fresno County, CA 127 km (79 mi) WSW earthquakes near Fresno County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 14km SW of Toms Place, CA
  2. 1.6 35 km NE of Independence, California
  3. 1.5 17 km ENE of Swall Meadows, California
  4. 1.6 11km WSW of Round Valley, CA
  5. 1.6 7 km SE of Big Pine, California
  6. 1.8 4km ESE of Round Valley, CA
  7. 1.6 5km S of Round Valley, CA
  8. 2.0 3km ENE of Round Valley, CA
  9. 1.6 6km NE of Big Pine, CA
  10. 1.7 8km NNE of Big Pine, CA
  11. 2.1 4km NE of Round Valley, CA
  12. 1.6 4km E of Round Valley, CA
  13. 1.6 7km NNW of Round Valley, CA
  14. 1.5 7km NNE of Round Valley, CA
  15. 1.5 6km ESE of Round Valley, 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.