Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Bishop, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Bishop in the 24 hours to 12:40 pm PST (20:40 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) south of Bishop, CA, at 9:16 am PST on 25 November 2018 (17:16 UTC), 8.9 km deep.
USGS: 5km N of Wilkerson, CA
- When
- 9:16 am PST on 25 November 2018 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) south of Bishop, CA · earthquakes near Bishop
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 8.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Mono County, 79 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Owens Valley fault, 1 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 2908 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Bishop, 5 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: Bishop 5 km, intensity II · West Bishop 7 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.8 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.8 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 55,000 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 · 25 km N of this epicentre
- 6.2 9 km SW of Aspen Springs, California · 42 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 11 km WNW of Aspen Springs, California · 49 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.1 8 km W of Aspen Springs, California · 45 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.1 4 km NNW of Round Valley, California · 25 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 37.3168, -118.3955. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mono County, CA | 79 km (49 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Mono County |
| Esmeralda County, NV | 85 km (53 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Madera County, CA | 120 km (75 mi) | W | earthquakes near Madera County |
| Inyo County, CA | 122 km (76 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| Fresno County, CA | 128 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
40 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 14km SE of Mammoth Lakes, CA
- 1.8 15km SW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.7 7km SSW of Wilkerson, CA
- 1.5 17km SW of Toms Place, CA
- 2.9 15km W of Round Valley, CA
- 1.7 14km W of Round Valley, CA
- 1.6 16km WSW of Round Valley, CA
- 1.8 14km SE of Mammoth Lakes, CA
- 2.2 15km SE of Mammoth Lakes, CA
- 1.6 28 km E of Big Pine, California
- 1.8 6km E of Big Pine, CA
- 1.5 15km SE of Mammoth Lakes, CA
- 2.6 1km SSW of Round Valley, CA
- 1.8 15km SW of Toms Place, CA
- 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
- 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.