Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7md
Earthquake near Bishop, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Bishop in the 24 hours to 9:18 am PST (17:18 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 9 km (5 mi) NW, at 9:02 pm PDT on 30 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Bishop
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 35 km (22 mi) northeast of Bishop, CA, at 6:50 pm PDT on 2 May 2021 (01:50 UTC), 6.4 km deep.
USGS: 28km NNW of Deep Springs, CA
- When
- 6:50 pm PDT on 2 May 2021 ()
- Where
- 35 km (22 mi) northeast of Bishop, CA · earthquakes near Bishop
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (md)
- Depth
- 6.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Esmeralda County, 48 km ENE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Fish Lake Valley 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 2018 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Bishop, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Bishop, 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Bishop, 35 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 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 4.3 on 2016-02-16 — about 8,200 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 29 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 The 1986 Chalfant Valley, California Earthquake · 29 km WSW of this epicentre
- 6.1 Near Tonopah Junction, Nevada · 46 km NNE of this epicentre
- 6.1 4 km NNW of Round Valley, California · 45 km WSW of this epicentre
- 6.0 Near Bishop, California · 39 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.9 18 km NNE of Mesa, California · 28 km W 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 37.5952, -118.1270. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Esmeralda County, NV | 48 km (30 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Mono County, CA | 75 km (46 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Mono County |
| Mineral County, NV | 106 km (66 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Mineral County |
| Inyo County, CA | 132 km (82 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Inyo County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
14 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 2km SSE of Bishop, CA
- 2.4 23 km ENE of Benton, California
- 1.6 38km NNE of Toms Place, CA
- 1.8 7km NW of Big Pine, CA
- 1.8 38km NNE of Toms Place, CA
- 2.7 9km NNW of West Bishop, CA
- 1.9 8km ENE of Round Valley, CA
- 2.6 8km NNW of West Bishop, CA
- 3.4 9km ENE of Round Valley, CA
- 3.2 9km NNW of West Bishop, CA
- 2.9 12km NNE of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
- 1.7 6km SE of Round Valley, CA
- 1.8 31 km NE of Benton, California
- 1.8 4km ENE of Round Valley, 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.