Earthquake near Big Pine, CA

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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Big Pine, 8 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: Big Pine 8 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 47 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 320,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 230,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 20× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 47 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 9,100 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 19 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.4 The 1986 Chalfant Valley, California Earthquake · 36 km NNW of this epicentre Jul 21, 1986
2. 6.1 4 km NNW of Round Valley, California · 37 km NW of this epicentre Nov 23, 1984
3. 6.1 46km E of Big Pine, California · 47 km E of this epicentre May 17, 1993
4. 6.0 Near Bishop, California · 15 km NW of this epicentre May 6, 1910
5. 5.9 18 km NNE of Mesa, California · 39 km NNW of this epicentre Jul 20, 1986

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 37.2378, -118.2967. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 1.7 40 km ENE of Big Pine, California 03:00 UTC
2. 1.6 3 km SE of Wilkerson, California 18:32 UTC
3. 2.6 1km E of Toms Place, CA 05:39 UTC
4. 1.5 26 km SW of Big Pine, California 13:13 UTC
5. 1.8 5km NW of Big Pine, CA 10:02 UTC
6. 1.7 25km ENE of Toms Place, CA 05:15 UTC
7. 2.2 6km ENE of Round Valley, CA 18:48 UTC
8. 1.5 14km SW of Toms Place, CA 11:45 UTC
9. 2.2 8km ENE of Round Valley, CA 00:07 UTC
10. 1.6 8km E of Toms Place, CA 13:24 UTC
11. 1.9 20km NNW of Deep Springs, CA 10:25 UTC
12. 1.6 10km S of Wilkerson, CA 15:19 UTC
13. 1.6 7km NW of West Bishop, CA 12:42 UTC
14. 1.5 5km E of Round Valley, CA 12:20 UTC
15. 2.6 16km SSW of Round Valley, CA 11:22 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 20:47 UTC. 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.