QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Mammoth Lakes, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Mammoth Lakes in the 24 hours to 12:31 pm PST (20:31 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 26 km (16 mi) SSE, at 3:54 am PDT on 24 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Mammoth Lakes

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 46 km (28 mi) north-northeast of Mammoth Lakes, CA, at 12:25 pm PST on 30 December 2019 (20:25 UTC), 4.6 km deep.

USGS: 22km SE of Bodie, CA

12:25 pm PST, Dec 30, 2019 · · 4.6 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Mammoth Lakes Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mono County 15 kmMineral County 65 kmTuolumne County 96 kmAlpine County 103 kmMariposa County 106 kmLyon County 112 kmEsmeralda County 112 kmDouglas County 115 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
12:25 pm PST on 30 December 2019 ()
Where
46 km (28 mi) north-northeast of Mammoth Lakes, CA · earthquakes near Mammoth Lakes
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
4.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mono County, 15 km S
Nearest mapped fault
Huntoon Valley fault system, 14 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 2500 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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Mammoth Lakes, 46 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 970,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 86× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 5.6 on 2016-12-28 — about 680,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 23 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.0 7 km ENE of Mammoth Lakes, California · 42 km S of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 8 km NNE of Mammoth Lakes, California · 38 km S of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 3 km NE of Mono City, California · 22 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.7 12 km ESE of Mammoth Lakes, California · 48 km S of this epicentre
  5. 5.6 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada (Foreshock) · 49 km NE 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 38.0508, -118.8655. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mono County, CA 15 km (9 mi) S earthquakes near Mono County
Mineral County, NV 65 km (40 mi) NE earthquakes near Mineral County
Tuolumne County, CA 96 km (60 mi) W earthquakes near Tuolumne County
Alpine County, CA 103 km (64 mi) NW earthquakes near Alpine County
Mariposa County, CA 106 km (66 mi) WSW earthquakes near Mariposa County
Lyon County, NV 112 km (69 mi) NNW earthquakes near Lyon County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 35 km N of Benton, California
  2. 1.8 36 km NNE of Benton, California
  3. 1.7 35 km NNE of Benton, California
  4. 1.5 30 km WSW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  5. 1.7 34 km S of Hawthorne, Nevada
  6. 2.1 36 km NNE of Benton, California
  7. 1.8 34 km NNE of Benton, California
  8. 1.6 34 km N of Benton, California
  9. 2.2 35 km NNE of Benton, California
  10. 1.7 35 km NNE of Benton, California
  11. 1.9 6km E of Mammoth Lakes, CA
  12. 2.4 10km N of Lee Vining, CA
  13. 1.7 35 km NNE of Benton, California
  14. 1.6 16km SW of Bodie, CA
  15. 1.5 11km ENE of Mammoth Lakes, 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.