Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.2ml
Earthquake near West Bishop, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in West Bishop in the 24 hours to 9:27 am PST (17:27 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 15 km (10 mi) WNW, at 4:24 pm PDT on 24 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near West Bishop
This page: a magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 14 km (9 mi) west-northwest of West Bishop, CA, at 1:01 am PST on 5 December 2018 (09:01 UTC), 10 km deep. 6 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 1km SSW of Round Valley, CA
- When
- 1:01 am PST on 5 December 2018 ()
- Where
- 14 km (9 mi) west-northwest of West Bishop, CA · earthquakes near West Bishop
- Magnitude
- M 3.2 (ml)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- 6 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Mono County, 62 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Round Valley fault, 12 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 2826 days ago
Earthquake alerts for West Bishop, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near West 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 45 km (28 mi) from the epicentre. In West Bishop, 14 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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 14 km, intensity III · Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek 17 km, intensity III · Bishop 19 km, intensity II · Big Pine 39 km, intensity II · Mammoth Lakes 42 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1,800 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 180,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 8,200× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,800× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,800 lb of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.9× more
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 230 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 39 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 The 1986 Chalfant Valley, California Earthquake · 21 km NE of this epicentre
- 6.2 9 km SW of Aspen Springs, California · 21 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 11 km WNW of Aspen Springs, California · 29 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.1 8 km W of Aspen Springs, California · 24 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.1 4 km NNW of Round Valley, California · 6 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 37.4048, -118.6040. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mono County, CA | 62 km (38 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Mono County |
| Esmeralda County, NV | 95 km (59 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Madera County, CA | 104 km (64 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Madera County |
| Mariposa County, CA | 117 km (73 mi) | W | earthquakes near Mariposa County |
| Fresno County, CA | 118 km (73 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Fresno County |
| Inyo County, CA | 142 km (88 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.
- 1.8 2km E of Mammoth Lakes, CA
- 1.8 11km ENE 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
- 3.0 14km NW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.6 14km NW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.9 14km NW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.8 14km NW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.6 14km NW of Toms Place, CA
- 2.1 14km NW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.6 14km NW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.6 14km NW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.7 14km NW of Toms Place, CA
- 2.9 15km W 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.