Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.0md
Earthquake near Bishop, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Bishop in the 24 hours to 1:01 pm PST (21:01 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 2.0 earthquake was recorded 20 km (13 mi) south-southwest of Bishop, CA, at 6:09 am PST on 23 December 2019 (14:09 UTC), 2.9 km deep.
USGS: 11km SSW of Wilkerson, CA
- When
- 6:09 am PST on 23 December 2019 ()
- Where
- 20 km (13 mi) south-southwest of Bishop, CA · earthquakes near Bishop
- Magnitude
- M 2.0 (md)
- Depth
- 2.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Mono County, 90 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Southern Sierra Nevada fault, 8 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 2505 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Bishop, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Bishop, CA. No account or email needed.
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 16 km (10 mi) from the epicentre. In Bishop, 20 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 14 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 32 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 470,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 330,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 30× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.0 about 32 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 13,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 23 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 The 1986 Chalfant Valley, California Earthquake · 39 km N of this epicentre
- 6.2 9 km SW of Aspen Springs, California · 48 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.1 4 km NNW of Round Valley, California · 34 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.0 Near Bishop, California · 16 km N of this epicentre
- 6.0 Mammoth Lakes area, California · 50 km NNW 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 37.1858, -118.4435. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mono County, CA | 90 km (56 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Mono County |
| Esmeralda County, NV | 97 km (60 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Tulare County, CA | 111 km (69 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Inyo County, CA | 116 km (72 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| Madera County, CA | 116 km (72 mi) | W | earthquakes near Madera County |
| Fresno County, CA | 118 km (73 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Fresno County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
26 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.5 22km SW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.6 12km WSW of Toms Place, CA
- 3.4 5km NNW of Round Valley, CA
- 2.5 22km SW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.6 12km SSW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.5 4km NNW of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
- 1.7 15km SW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.5 12km SSW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.6 11km SW of West Bishop, CA
- 1.5 9km WNW of Round Valley, CA
- 1.7 14km SW of West Bishop, CA
- 1.8 7km WSW of West Bishop, CA
- 1.8 8km S of Wilkerson, CA
- 1.9 7km N of Round Valley, CA
- 2.6 9km WNW of Round Valley, 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.