Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8md
Earthquake near West Bishop, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in West Bishop in the 24 hours to 6:52 am PST (14:52 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 1.8 earthquake was recorded 12 km (8 mi) northwest of West Bishop, CA, at 5:55 am PDT on 8 May 2021 (12:55 UTC), 10 km deep.
USGS: 4km ENE of Round Valley, CA
- When
- 5:55 am PDT on 8 May 2021 ()
- Where
- 12 km (8 mi) northwest of West Bishop, CA · earthquakes near West Bishop
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (md)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Mono County, 61 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Round Valley fault, 12 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 2012 days ago
Earthquake alerts for West Bishop, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near West 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In West Bishop, 12 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, Bishop.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 16 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 970,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 680,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 61× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 16 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 28,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 40 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 The 1986 Chalfant Valley, California Earthquake · 16 km NE of this epicentre
- 6.2 9 km SW of Aspen Springs, California · 23 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 11 km WNW of Aspen Springs, California · 30 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.1 8 km W of Aspen Springs, California · 26 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.1 4 km NNW of Round Valley, California · 5 km NW 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 37.4297, -118.5635. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mono County, CA | 61 km (38 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Mono County |
| Esmeralda County, NV | 91 km (56 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Madera County, CA | 108 km (67 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Madera County |
| Mariposa County, CA | 120 km (75 mi) | W | earthquakes near Mariposa County |
| Fresno County, CA | 122 km (76 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Fresno County |
| Inyo County, CA | 141 km (88 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Inyo County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
59 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.1 6km ESE of Round Valley, CA
- 2.1 7km E of Round Valley, CA
- 1.6 22km SW of Toms Place, CA
- 2.0 22km SW of Toms Place, CA
- 2.0 8km WSW of West Bishop, CA
- 2.3 14km SW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.7 5km W of Mammoth Lakes, CA
- 1.8 11km WSW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.8 12km WSW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.6 11km WSW of Toms Place, CA
- 2.8 9km WSW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.9 18km WSW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.6 2km ENE of Round Valley, CA
- 1.6 2km SSE of Bishop, CA
- 2.7 10km 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.