Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7md
Earthquake near Bishop, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Bishop in the 24 hours to 2:23 pm PST (22:23 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 1.7 earthquake was recorded 24 km (15 mi) northwest of Bishop, CA, at 7:16 pm PST on 21 February 2020 (03:16 UTC), 6.9 km deep.
USGS: 8km NNW of Round Valley, CA
- When
- 7:16 pm PST on 21 February 2020 ()
- Where
- 24 km (15 mi) northwest of Bishop, CA · earthquakes near Bishop
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (md)
- Depth
- 6.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Mono County, 53 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Round Valley fault, 5 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 2453 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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Bishop, 24 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: West Bishop, Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek.
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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 970,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 86× the energy of this one
- 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 4.8 on 2016-02-16 — about 39,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 40 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 The 1986 Chalfant Valley, California Earthquake · 16 km ENE of this epicentre
- 6.2 9 km SW of Aspen Springs, California · 17 km W of this epicentre
- 6.1 11 km WNW of Aspen Springs, California · 22 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 8 km W of Aspen Springs, California · 18 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 4 km NNW of Round Valley, California · 3 km SSE 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 37.4848, -118.6170. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mono County, CA | 53 km (33 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Mono County |
| Esmeralda County, NV | 93 km (58 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Madera County, CA | 105 km (65 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Madera County |
| Mariposa County, CA | 115 km (71 mi) | W | earthquakes near Mariposa County |
| Mineral County, NV | 116 km (72 mi) | N | earthquakes near Mineral County |
| Fresno County, CA | 122 km (76 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Fresno County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
60 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.2 16km WSW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.6 15km WSW of Round Valley, CA
- 1.7 4km NNW of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
- 1.6 4km E of Mammoth Lakes, CA
- 1.9 20km SW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.6 15km N of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
- 1.8 15km NNW of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
- 1.6 3km E of Mammoth Lakes, CA
- 1.7 3km E of Mammoth Lakes, CA
- 1.6 3km E of Mammoth Lakes, CA
- 2.1 4km E of Mammoth Lakes, CA
- 1.8 4km E of Mammoth Lakes, CA
- 2.7 4km E of Mammoth Lakes, CA
- 2.2 4km E of Mammoth Lakes, CA
- 1.6 4km ESE 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
- 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.