QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.2md

Earthquake near Big Pine, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Big Pine in the 24 hours to 3:47 pm PST (23:47 UTC). The last one was M 1.6, 9 km (6 mi) NNE, at 10:07 am PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Big Pine

This page: a magnitude 2.2 earthquake was recorded 21 km (13 mi) south-southwest of Big Pine, CA, at 12:59 am PDT on 27 October 2019 (07:59 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

USGS: 21km SSW of Big Pine, CA

12:59 am PDT, Oct 27, 2019 · · -0.3 km deep · released about 62 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Tulare County 93 kmInyo County 95 kmEsmeralda County 108 kmMono County 114 kmFresno County 120 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
12:59 am PDT on 27 October 2019 ()
Where
21 km (13 mi) south-southwest of Big Pine, CA · earthquakes near Big Pine
Magnitude
M 2.2 (md)
Depth
-0.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Tulare County, 93 km SSW
Nearest mapped fault
Southern Sierra Nevada 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 2571 days ago

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 19 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. In Big Pine, 21 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 62 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 240,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 170,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 15× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.2 about 62 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 6,900 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.0 Near Bishop, California · 39 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 4 km SSW of Bishop, California · 39 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 10 km N of Independence, California · 15 km SE 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 36.9837, -118.3365. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Tulare County, CA 93 km (58 mi) SSW earthquakes near Tulare County
Inyo County, CA 95 km (59 mi) ESE earthquakes near Inyo County
Esmeralda County, NV 108 km (67 mi) NE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Mono County, CA 114 km (71 mi) NNW earthquakes near Mono County
Fresno County, CA 120 km (74 mi) WSW earthquakes near Fresno County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 20km S of Big Pine, CA
  2. 2.1 29km ESE of Big Pine, CA
  3. 2.4 19km S of Big Pine, CA
  4. 1.5 2km SSW of Bishop, CA
  5. 1.6 5km SE of Round Valley, CA
  6. 1.6 7km ESE of Round Valley, CA
  7. 3.3 6km E of Independence, CA
  8. 1.5 7km SE of Round Valley, CA
  9. 2.0 14km N of Lone Pine, CA
  10. 1.6 14km N of Lone Pine, CA
  11. 1.5 4km NNW of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
  12. 1.6 11km SW of West Bishop, CA
  13. 1.7 14km SW of West Bishop, CA
  14. 1.8 7km WSW of West Bishop, CA
  15. 1.8 8km S of Wilkerson, 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.