Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8md
Earthquake near Big Pine, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Big Pine in the 24 hours to 12:31 pm PST (20:31 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 1.8 earthquake was recorded 25 km (16 mi) southwest of Big Pine, CA, at 4:05 am PST on 16 November 2019 (12:05 UTC), 10 km deep.
USGS: 25km SW of Big Pine, CA
- When
- 4:05 am PST on 16 November 2019 ()
- Where
- 25 km (16 mi) southwest of Big Pine, CA · earthquakes near Big Pine
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (md)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Tulare County, 91 km SSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Southern Sierra Nevada fault, 11 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 2551 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Big Pine, CA
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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 Big Pine, 25 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 14 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 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 790,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 70× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 14 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 32,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 4 km NNW of Round Valley, California · 49 km N of this epicentre
- 6.0 Near Bishop, California · 35 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.6 6 km WNW of Round Valley, California · 49 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 4 km SSW of Bishop, California · 35 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.5 10 km N of Independence, California · 31 km ESE 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 37.0220, -118.5082. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tulare County, CA | 91 km (57 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Mono County, CA | 105 km (65 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Mono County |
| Fresno County, CA | 106 km (66 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Fresno County |
| Inyo County, CA | 111 km (69 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| Madera County, CA | 112 km (70 mi) | W | earthquakes near Madera County |
| Esmeralda County, NV | 114 km (71 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
39 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.4 20km S of Big Pine, CA
- 2.1 29km ESE of Big Pine, CA
- 1.6 2km NW of Round Valley, CA
- 2.4 19km S of Big Pine, CA
- 1.9 2km E of Round Valley, CA
- 1.5 2km SSW of Bishop, CA
- 1.6 5km SE of Round Valley, CA
- 1.6 7km ESE of Round Valley, CA
- 3.3 6km E of Independence, CA
- 1.5 7km SE of Round Valley, CA
- 2.2 3km E of Round Valley, CA
- 2.1 3km E of Round Valley, CA
- 2.7 3km E of Round Valley, CA
- 3.4 5km NNW of Round Valley, CA
- 1.5 4km NNW of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, 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.