Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Yosemite Valley, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Yosemite Valley in the 24 hours to 9:25 am PST (17:25 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 22 km (14 mi) SE, at 7:51 am PDT on 28 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Yosemite Valley
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 21 km (13 mi) east-southeast of Yosemite Valley, CA, at 9:19 pm PDT on 23 April 2021 (04:19 UTC), 13 km deep.
USGS: 21km ESE of Yosemite Valley, CA
- When
- 9:19 pm PDT on 23 April 2021 ()
- Where
- 21 km (13 mi) east-southeast of Yosemite Valley, CA · earthquakes near Yosemite Valley
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 13 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Mariposa County, 49 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- Silver Lake fault, 25 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 2028 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Yosemite Valley, CA
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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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Yosemite Valley, 21 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 5.4 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 23,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.1 11 km WNW of Aspen Springs, California · 48 km E of this epicentre
- 6.0 7 km ENE of Mammoth Lakes, California · 41 km E of this epicentre
- 5.9 8 km NNE of Mammoth Lakes, California · 40 km E of this epicentre
- 5.9 11 km SE of Mammoth Lakes, California · 45 km E of this epicentre
- 5.7 12 km ESE of Mammoth Lakes, California · 47 km E 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 37.6530, -119.3688. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mariposa County, CA | 49 km (30 mi) | W | earthquakes near Mariposa County |
| Mono County, CA | 52 km (33 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Mono County |
| Madera County, CA | 60 km (37 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Madera County |
| Tuolumne County, CA | 66 km (41 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Tuolumne County |
| Fresno County, CA | 102 km (64 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Fresno County |
| Alpine County, CA | 114 km (71 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Alpine County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
54 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 16km WSW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.6 12km SE of Mammoth Lakes, CA
- 1.8 22km SSE of Mammoth Lakes, CA
- 2.2 29km NE of Oakhurst, CA
- 1.7 20km SE of Yosemite Valley, CA
- 1.6 22km SW of Toms Place, CA
- 2.0 22km SW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.6 15km ESE of Yosemite Valley, CA
- 1.7 5km W of Mammoth Lakes, CA
- 1.9 18km WSW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.8 14km WSW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.5 14km SE of Mammoth Lakes, CA
- 1.9 14km SE of Mammoth Lakes, CA
- 1.9 19km SE of Yosemite Valley, CA
- 2.3 17km WSW 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.