QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4md

Earthquake near Mammoth Lakes, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Mammoth Lakes in the 24 hours to 2:03 pm PST (22:03 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 2.4 earthquake was recorded 47 km (29 mi) north-northwest of Mammoth Lakes, CA, at 4:35 am PST on 25 February 2020 (12:35 UTC), 2.5 km deep.

USGS: 10km N of Lee Vining, CA

4:35 am PST, Feb 25, 2020 · · 2.5 km deep · released about 120 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Mammoth Lakes Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mono County 27 kmTuolumne County 72 kmMineral County 82 kmAlpine County 86 kmMariposa County 86 kmDouglas County 104 kmMadera County 108 kmLyon County 108 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
4:35 am PST on 25 February 2020 ()
Where
47 km (29 mi) north-northwest of Mammoth Lakes, CA · earthquakes near Mammoth Lakes
Magnitude
M 2.4 (md)
Depth
2.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mono County, 27 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Mono Lake fault, 4 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 2452 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 21 km (13 mi) from the epicentre. In Mammoth Lakes, 47 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 120 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 130,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 92,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 8.2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 120 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 65,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 14 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.0 7 km ENE of Mammoth Lakes, California · 46 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 8 km NNE of Mammoth Lakes, California · 42 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 3 km NE of Mono City, California · 2 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 27 km NW of Benton, California · 41 km E of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 3 km SE of Mammoth Lakes, California · 50 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 38.0483, -119.1390. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mono County, CA 27 km (17 mi) ESE earthquakes near Mono County
Tuolumne County, CA 72 km (45 mi) W earthquakes near Tuolumne County
Mineral County, NV 82 km (51 mi) NE earthquakes near Mineral County
Alpine County, CA 86 km (53 mi) NW earthquakes near Alpine County
Mariposa County, CA 86 km (53 mi) SW earthquakes near Mariposa County
Douglas County, NV 104 km (64 mi) NNW earthquakes near Douglas County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.5 30km ESE of Bodie, CA
  2. 1.8 29km SE of Bodie, CA
  3. 2.0 30km SE of Bodie, CA
  4. 2.0 30km SE of Bodie, CA
  5. 2.6 30km SE of Bodie, CA
  6. 2.4 31km SE of Bodie, CA
  7. 1.7 29km SE of Bodie, CA
  8. 2.0 30km SE of Bodie, CA
  9. 2.1 34 km ENE of Lee Vining, California
  10. 3.0 29km SE of Bodie, CA
  11. 2.6 31km ESE of Bodie, CA
  12. 5.2 30km SE of Bodie, CA
  13. 2.5 22km N of Bridgeport, CA
  14. 2.0 10km ENE of Mammoth Lakes, CA
  15. 2.0 4km SW of Bridgeport, 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.