Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5md
31km ESE of Bodie, CA
Yes. A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 31km ESE of Bodie, CA, at 8:32 pm PDT on 18 April 2020 (03:32 UTC), 5.0 km deep.
- When
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 5.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Mono County, 22 km SW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Huntoon Valley fault system, 3 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 2393 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Mammoth Lakes, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Mammoth Lakes, 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. 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 6.2 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 6.2 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 1,200,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 24 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.3 The 1934 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada Earthquake · 39 km NE of this epicentre
- 6.0 7 km ENE of Mammoth Lakes, California · 46 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.9 8 km NNE of Mammoth Lakes, California · 43 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.8 3 km NE of Mono City, California · 36 km W of this epicentre
- 5.6 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada (Foreshock) · 38 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 38.0638, -118.7120. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mono County, CA | 22 km (14 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Mono County |
| Mineral County, NV | 57 km (35 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Mineral County |
| Esmeralda County, NV | 100 km (62 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Tuolumne County, CA | 110 km (68 mi) | W | earthquakes near Tuolumne County |
| Alpine County, CA | 113 km (70 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Alpine County |
| Lyon County, NV | 115 km (71 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Lyon County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 28km SE of Bodie, CA
- 1.8 28km SE of Bodie, CA
- 1.5 27km SE of Bodie, CA
- 2.6 32 km NNW of Benton, California
- 2.0 29km SE of Bodie, CA
- 2.5 30km SE of Bodie, CA
- 1.6 29km SE of Bodie, CA
- 1.9 29km SE of Bodie, CA
- 2.0 29km SE of Bodie, CA
- 3.3 29km SE of Bodie, CA
- 1.6 29km SE of Bodie, CA
- 1.6 29km SE of Bodie, CA
- 1.5 30km SSW of Qualeys Camp, NV
- 2.5 29km SE of Bodie, CA
- 4.0 29km SE of Bodie, 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.