QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0md

6km NNW of Bridgeport, CA

Yes. A magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 6km NNW of Bridgeport, CA, at 8:50 am PST on 17 February 2021 (16:50 UTC), 2.7 km deep. 7 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

· 2.7 km deep · released about 920 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mono County 55 kmAlpine County 58 kmTuolumne County 69 kmDouglas County 73 kmMineral County 78 kmLyon County 80 kmMariposa County 99 kmCarson City 103 kmCalaveras County 113 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
Magnitude
M 3.0 (md)
Depth
2.7 km below the surface
Felt
7 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Mono County, 55 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
Robinson Creek fault, 9 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 2029 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 36 km (22 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 920 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 370,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 16,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 12,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 920 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 8,200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 5.8 3 km NE of Mono City, California · 30 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 23 km S of Walker, California · 20 km W of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 31 km ENE of Mono City, California · 43 km ESE of this epicentre
  4. 5.1 23 km E of Bridgeport, California · 26 km E of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 19 km W of Bridgeport, California · 19 km WSW 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 38.3032, -119.2660. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mono County, CA 55 km (34 mi) SE earthquakes near Mono County
Alpine County, CA 58 km (36 mi) NW earthquakes near Alpine County
Tuolumne County, CA 69 km (43 mi) WSW earthquakes near Tuolumne County
Douglas County, NV 73 km (46 mi) NNW earthquakes near Douglas County
Mineral County, NV 78 km (48 mi) ENE earthquakes near Mineral County
Lyon County, NV 80 km (50 mi) N earthquakes near Lyon County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 31km ENE of Dardanelle, CA
  2. 2.4 32km SE of Markleeville, CA
  3. 2.6 30km ENE of Dardanelle, CA
  4. 3.0 29km ESE of Markleeville, CA
  5. 2.4 30km ENE of Dardanelle, CA
  6. 2.9 30km SE of Markleeville, CA
  7. 3.0 30km SE of Markleeville, CA
  8. 3.0 32km ENE of Dardanelle, CA
  9. 2.0 9 km ENE of Coleville, California
  10. 2.6 33km ENE of Dardanelle, CA
  11. 3.0 31km SE of Markleeville, CA
  12. 2.6 31km SE of Markleeville, CA
  13. 3.4 31km SE of Markleeville, CA
  14. 3.4 29km ENE of Dardanelle, CA
  15. 2.5 30km SE of Markleeville, 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.