QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9md

Earthquake near Bishop, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Bishop in the 24 hours to 2:13 pm PST (22:13 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 1.9 earthquake was recorded 33 km (20 mi) northeast of Bishop, CA, at 2:14 pm PDT on 17 September 2018 (21:14 UTC), less than 1 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 20km NNW of Deep Springs, CA

2:14 pm PDT, Sep 17, 2018 · · -1.8 km deep · released about 19 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Bishop Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Esmeralda County 49 kmMono County 81 kmMineral County 113 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
2:14 pm PDT on 17 September 2018 ()
Where
33 km (20 mi) northeast of Bishop, CA · earthquakes near Bishop
Magnitude
M 1.9 (md)
Depth
-1.8 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Esmeralda County, 49 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
Fish Lake Valley fault, 13 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 2978 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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Bishop, 33 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 19 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 810,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 580,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 51× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 19 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 23,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 23 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 The 1986 Chalfant Valley, California Earthquake · 31 km W of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 4 km NNW of Round Valley, California · 46 km W of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 46km E of Big Pine, California · 49 km SE of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 Near Bishop, California · 36 km SW of this epicentre
  5. 5.9 18 km NNE of Mesa, California · 31 km W 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 37.5298, -118.0923. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Esmeralda County, NV 49 km (30 mi) NE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Mono County, CA 81 km (50 mi) WNW earthquakes near Mono County
Mineral County, NV 113 km (70 mi) NNW earthquakes near Mineral County
Inyo County, CA 124 km (77 mi) SSE earthquakes near Inyo County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 6km ESE of Round Valley, CA
  2. 1.6 8km W of Wilkerson, CA
  3. 1.5 22 km N of Dyer, Nevada
  4. 1.9 24 km N of Dyer, Nevada
  5. 1.6 30km NNW of Deep Springs, CA
  6. 1.8 45 km ENE of Big Pine, California
  7. 1.6 19 km NE of Dyer, Nevada
  8. 1.5 10km WSW of Wilkerson, CA
  9. 1.6 10km WSW of Wilkerson, CA
  10. 2.1 27 km SSE of Silver Peak, Nevada
  11. 1.7 7km SSW of Wilkerson, CA
  12. 1.6 28 km E of Big Pine, California
  13. 1.8 6km E of Big Pine, CA
  14. 2.6 1km SSW of Round Valley, CA
  15. 2.0 1km SSW 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.