QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8md

Earthquake near West Bishop, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in West Bishop in the 24 hours to 12:56 pm PST (20:56 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 15 km (10 mi) WNW, at 4:24 pm PDT on 24 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near West Bishop

This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) northwest of West Bishop, CA, at 4:15 pm PST on 7 February 2021 (00:15 UTC), 13 km deep.

USGS: 5km NE of Round Valley, CA

4:15 pm PST, Feb 7, 2021 · · 13 km deep · released about 430 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near West Bishop Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mono County 59 kmEsmeralda County 90 kmMadera County 109 kmMineral County 120 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
4:15 pm PST on 7 February 2021 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) northwest of West Bishop, CA · earthquakes near West Bishop
Magnitude
M 2.8 (md)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mono County, 59 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
Round Valley fault, 11 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 2030 days ago

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 23 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. In West Bishop, 13 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.

Likely felt in: West Bishop 13 km, intensity II · Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek 14 km, intensity II · Bishop 17 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 430 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 35,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 25,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 430 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 1,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 40 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 The 1986 Chalfant Valley, California Earthquake · 14 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 9 km SW of Aspen Springs, California · 23 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 11 km WNW of Aspen Springs, California · 29 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 8 km W of Aspen Springs, California · 25 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 4 km NNW of Round Valley, California · 5 km WNW 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 37.4463, -118.5577. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mono County, CA 59 km (37 mi) NNW earthquakes near Mono County
Esmeralda County, NV 90 km (56 mi) ENE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Madera County, CA 109 km (68 mi) WSW earthquakes near Madera County
Mineral County, NV 120 km (74 mi) N earthquakes near Mineral County
Mariposa County, CA 120 km (75 mi) W earthquakes near Mariposa County
Fresno County, CA 124 km (77 mi) SW earthquakes near Fresno County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 38km NNE of Toms Place, CA
  2. 1.5 10 km NW of Benton, California
  3. 1.6 2km E of Round Valley, CA
  4. 1.9 4km ENE of Round Valley, CA
  5. 2.0 3km NNE of Wilkerson, CA
  6. 2.1 13km W of Toms Place, CA
  7. 1.8 8km WNW of Round Valley, CA
  8. 3.1 9km WSW of Toms Place, CA
  9. 2.9 9km W of Toms Place, CA
  10. 1.5 20km NNW of Toms Place, CA
  11. 1.5 39km NNE of Toms Place, CA
  12. 2.8 13km W of Toms Place, CA
  13. 1.8 2km NNE of Wilkerson, CA
  14. 2.5 2km S of Round Valley, CA
  15. 1.6 13km SE 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.