QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Bishop, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Bishop in the 24 hours to 9:04 am PST (17:04 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 16 km (10 mi) south of Bishop, CA, at 11:58 am PDT on 27 July 2019 (18:58 UTC), 14 km deep.

USGS: 7km SSW of Wilkerson, CA

11:58 am PDT, Jul 27, 2019 · · 14 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mono County 88 kmEsmeralda County 93 kmTulare County 115 kmInyo County 116 kmMadera County 118 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
11:58 am PDT on 27 July 2019 ()
Where
16 km (10 mi) south of Bishop, CA · earthquakes near Bishop
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mono County, 88 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
Southern Sierra Nevada fault, 6 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 2661 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Bishop, 16 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: Big Pine, West Bishop, Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 15 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 730,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 65× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 30,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 24 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 The 1986 Chalfant Valley, California Earthquake · 36 km N of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 9 km SW of Aspen Springs, California · 47 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 4 km NNW of Round Valley, California · 32 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 Near Bishop, California · 12 km N of this epicentre
  5. 6.0 Mammoth Lakes area, California · 48 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 37.2190, -118.4125. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mono County, CA 88 km (54 mi) NNW earthquakes near Mono County
Esmeralda County, NV 93 km (58 mi) NE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Tulare County, CA 115 km (71 mi) SSW earthquakes near Tulare County
Inyo County, CA 116 km (72 mi) SE earthquakes near Inyo County
Madera County, CA 118 km (74 mi) W earthquakes near Madera County
Fresno County, CA 122 km (76 mi) WSW earthquakes near Fresno County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 18km WSW of Wilkerson, CA
  2. 1.8 8km ESE of Wilkerson, CA
  3. 1.7 7km N of Big Pine, CA
  4. 1.8 23km SW of Toms Place, CA
  5. 1.9 18km SW of Toms Place, CA
  6. 1.6 13km SW of Toms Place, CA
  7. 1.7 3km WNW of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
  8. 1.7 2km NNW of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
  9. 2.3 19km SSW of Big Pine, CA
  10. 2.1 18km SSW of Big Pine, CA
  11. 2.3 19km SSW of Big Pine, CA
  12. 1.5 18km WSW of Wilkerson, CA
  13. 2.3 20km N of Independence, CA
  14. 2.1 8km N of Big Pine, CA
  15. 2.0 23km 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.