Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8md
Earthquake near Bishop, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Bishop in the 24 hours to 10:11 am PST (18:11 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 32 km (20 mi) southwest of Bishop, CA, at 6:39 pm PDT on 20 April 2019 (01:39 UTC), 9.5 km deep.
USGS: 27km WSW of Wilkerson, CA
- When
- 6:39 pm PDT on 20 April 2019 ()
- Where
- 32 km (20 mi) southwest of Bishop, CA · earthquakes near Bishop
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (md)
- Depth
- 9.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Mono County, 87 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 2760 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Bishop, 32 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.
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 28 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 The 1986 Chalfant Valley, California Earthquake · 46 km NNE of this epicentre
- 6.2 9 km SW of Aspen Springs, California · 41 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 8 km W of Aspen Springs, California · 46 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 4 km NNW of Round Valley, California · 34 km N of this epicentre
- 6.0 Near Bishop, California · 28 km NE 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 37.1558, -118.6478. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mono County, CA | 87 km (54 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Mono County |
| Madera County, CA | 98 km (61 mi) | W | earthquakes near Madera County |
| Fresno County, CA | 100 km (62 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Fresno County |
| Tulare County, CA | 104 km (64 mi) | S | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Esmeralda County, NV | 113 km (70 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Mariposa County, CA | 121 km (75 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Mariposa County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.1 2km NW of Wilkerson, CA
- 1.6 2km NW of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
- 1.7 3km NW of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
- 1.8 7km WSW of West Bishop, CA
- 1.9 19km NNW of Independence, CA
- 2.1 6km WSW of West Bishop, CA
- 1.6 7km WSW of West Bishop, CA
- 1.5 6km NE of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
- 1.5 7 km ESE of Wilkerson, California
- 2.5 9km NNE of Round Valley, CA
- 1.6 18km WSW of Toms Place, CA
- 2.2 18km SW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.5 1km E of Bishop, CA
- 2.5 2km NW of Wilkerson, CA
- 1.9 17km SW of Toms Place, 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.