QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5md

Earthquake near Mammoth Lakes, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Mammoth Lakes in the 24 hours to 12:21 pm PST (20:21 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 1.5 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) east-southeast of Mammoth Lakes, CA, at 1:54 pm PST on 10 January 2021 (21:54 UTC), 5.5 km deep.

USGS: 9km W of Toms Place, CA

1:54 pm PST, Jan 10, 2021 · · 5.5 km deep · released about 5.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Mammoth Lakes Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mono County 40 kmMadera County 94 kmMariposa County 99 kmEsmeralda County 105 kmMineral County 111 kmTuolumne County 116 kmFresno County 117 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
1:54 pm PST on 10 January 2021 ()
Where
19 km (12 mi) east-southeast of Mammoth Lakes, CA · earthquakes near Mammoth Lakes
Magnitude
M 1.5 (md)
Depth
5.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mono County, 40 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Hilton Creek fault, under 1 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 2130 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Mammoth Lakes, 19 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 5.6 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,700,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.6 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 4.4 on 2020-02-01 — about 22,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 39 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 The 1986 Chalfant Valley, California Earthquake · 30 km E of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 9 km SW of Aspen Springs, California · 6 km SSW of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 11 km WNW of Aspen Springs, California · 5 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 8 km W of Aspen Springs, California · 2 km WSW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 4 km NNW of Round Valley, California · 19 km SE 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 37.5590, -118.7868. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mono County, CA 40 km (25 mi) N earthquakes near Mono County
Madera County, CA 94 km (58 mi) WSW earthquakes near Madera County
Mariposa County, CA 99 km (62 mi) W earthquakes near Mariposa County
Esmeralda County, NV 105 km (65 mi) ENE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Mineral County, NV 111 km (69 mi) NNE earthquakes near Mineral County
Tuolumne County, CA 116 km (72 mi) WNW earthquakes near Tuolumne 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.

  1. 2.5 40km NNE of Toms Place, CA
  2. 1.7 41km NNE of Toms Place, CA
  3. 2.4 40km NNE of Toms Place, CA
  4. 1.6 40km NNE of Toms Place, CA
  5. 2.5 40km NNE of Toms Place, CA
  6. 2.7 40km NNE of Toms Place, CA
  7. 1.7 40km NNE of Toms Place, CA
  8. 3.3 40km NNE of Toms Place, CA
  9. 1.9 40km NNE of Toms Place, CA
  10. 1.8 40km NNE of Toms Place, CA
  11. 1.8 41km NNE of Toms Place, CA
  12. 1.5 40km NNE of Toms Place, CA
  13. 1.6 40km NNE of Toms Place, CA
  14. 2.8 40km NNE of Toms Place, CA
  15. 2.5 40km NNE of Toms Place, 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.