QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

Earthquake near Bishop, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Bishop in the 24 hours to 9:08 am PST (17:08 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 2.6 earthquake was recorded 43 km (27 mi) east of Bishop, CA, at 6:46 pm PDT on 20 July 2019 (01:46 UTC), 7.9 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 8km ESE of Deep Springs, CA

6:46 pm PDT, Jul 20, 2019 · · 7.9 km deep · released about 210 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Bishop Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Esmeralda County 55 kmInyo County 97 kmMono County 107 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
6:46 pm PDT on 20 July 2019 ()
Where
43 km (27 mi) east of Bishop, CA · earthquakes near Bishop
Magnitude
M 2.6 (md)
Depth
7.9 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Esmeralda County, 55 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault
Fish Lake Valley fault, 7 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 2635 days ago

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 22 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. In Bishop, 43 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 210 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 72,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 51,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.6× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 210 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 2,100 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.1 46km E of Big Pine, California · 22 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 Near Bishop, California · 46 km W of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 10 km NNE of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, California · 44 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 24 km WSW of Dyer, Nevada · 50 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 4 km SSW of Bishop, California · 46 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 37.3382, -117.9042. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Esmeralda County, NV 55 km (34 mi) NNE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Inyo County, CA 97 km (60 mi) SSE earthquakes near Inyo County
Mono County, CA 107 km (66 mi) NW earthquakes near Mono 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. 2.4 8km NNE of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
  2. 1.8 8km SSW of Wilkerson, CA
  3. 1.5 48 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
  4. 1.7 51 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
  5. 1.7 50 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
  6. 3.0 53 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
  7. 2.0 4km WNW of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
  8. 1.5 52 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
  9. 1.5 26 km E of Big Pine, California
  10. 2.8 4km NW of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
  11. 1.9 4km SSW of Big Pine, CA
  12. 1.6 63 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
  13. 1.7 60km ENE of Big Pine, CA
  14. 2.0 4km NNE of Big Pine, CA
  15. 1.6 2km SSE of West Bishop, 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.