Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.7mw
Earthquake near Bishop, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Bishop in the 24 hours to 3:20 pm PST (23:20 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 3.7 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) south-southeast of Bishop, CA, at 5:10 am PDT on 29 April 2020 (12:10 UTC), 8.4 km deep. 206 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 5km SSE of Bishop, CA
- When
- 5:10 am PDT on 29 April 2020 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) south-southeast of Bishop, CA · earthquakes near Bishop
- Magnitude
- M 3.7 (mw)
- Depth
- 8.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- 206 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Measured shaking
- intensity V (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Mono County, 79 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Owens Valley fault, 2 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 2308 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 77 km (48 mi) from the epicentre. In Bishop, 5 km away, the estimate is intensity IV (light). 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: Bishop 5 km, intensity IV · Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek 8 km, intensity III · West Bishop 9 km, intensity III · Big Pine 19 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.9 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 29,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,300× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 900× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.7 about 5.9 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 12× more
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 36 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 29 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 The 1986 Chalfant Valley, California Earthquake · 25 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.2 9 km SW of Aspen Springs, California · 43 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 8 km W of Aspen Springs, California · 46 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 4 km NNW of Round Valley, California · 26 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.0 Near Bishop, California · 5 km W 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 37.3257, -118.3685. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mono County, CA | 79 km (49 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Mono County |
| Esmeralda County, NV | 82 km (51 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Inyo County, CA | 121 km (75 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| Fresno County, CA | 130 km (81 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Fresno County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
42 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.2 15km SW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.6 13km WSW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.8 15km SE of Mammoth Lakes, CA
- 1.7 11km SSW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.8 12km SSW of Toms Place, CA
- 3.4 12km SSW of Toms Place, CA
- 2.1 12km SSW of Toms Place, CA
- 2.7 12km SSW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.8 16km SW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.7 14km WSW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.5 13km SW of Toms Place, CA
- 2.0 16km SW of Toms Place, CA
- 2.1 16km SW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.6 8km NNW of West Bishop, CA
- 2.8 4km N 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.