Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Mammoth Lakes, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Mammoth Lakes in the 24 hours to 8:01 pm PST (04:01 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 47 km (29 mi) northeast of Mammoth Lakes, CA, at 4:53 am PDT on 19 March 2021 (11:53 UTC), 7.3 km deep.
USGS: 40km NNE of Toms Place, CA
- When
- 4:53 am PDT on 19 March 2021 ()
- Where
- 47 km (29 mi) northeast of Mammoth Lakes, CA · earthquakes near Mammoth Lakes
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 7.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Mono County, 28 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- White Mountains fault, 6 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 2058 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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Mammoth Lakes, 47 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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 6.8 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,200,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.8 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 5.2 on 2020-04-11 — about 320,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 56 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 The 1986 Chalfant Valley, California Earthquake · 43 km SSE of this epicentre
- 6.3 The 1934 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada Earthquake · 44 km NNE of this epicentre
- 6.1 Near Tonopah Junction, Nevada · 50 km ENE of this epicentre
- 6.1 11 km WNW of Aspen Springs, California · 43 km SW of this epicentre
- 6.1 8 km W of Aspen Springs, California · 46 km SSW 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 37.9125, -118.5572. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mono County, CA | 28 km (17 mi) | W | earthquakes near Mono County |
| Mineral County, NV | 68 km (42 mi) | N | earthquakes near Mineral County |
| Esmeralda County, NV | 83 km (51 mi) | E | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Mariposa County, CA | 125 km (78 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Mariposa County |
| Madera County, CA | 131 km (81 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Madera County |
| Alpine County, CA | 134 km (83 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Alpine County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
22 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 29 km N of Dyer, Nevada
- 2.1 41km NNE of Toms Place, CA
- 1.5 26 km SSW of Mina, Nevada
- 1.6 7 km NE of Lee Vining, California
- 1.7 California-Nevada border region
- 1.6 38km NNE of Toms Place, CA
- 1.6 39km NNE of Toms Place, CA
- 1.9 40km NNE of Toms Place, CA
- 1.7 39km NNE of Toms Place, CA
- 2.1 27 km SSW of Mina, Nevada
- 2.8 39km NNE of Toms Place, CA
- 2.8 28 km SSW of Mina, Nevada
- 1.8 9km W of Toms Place, CA
- 1.5 13 km NW of Benton, California
- 1.6 41km 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
- 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.