QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.0ml

27km ESE of Bodie, CA

Yes. A magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 27km ESE of Bodie, CA, at 6:16 am PDT on 9 May 2021 (13:16 UTC), 7.7 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

· 7.7 km deep · released about 830 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mono County 22 kmMineral County 56 kmEsmeralda County 104 kmTuolumne County 107 kmAlpine County 109 kmLyon County 112 kmMariposa County 117 kmDouglas County 118 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 (ml)
Depth
7.7 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Mono County, 22 km SSW
Nearest mapped fault
Huntoon Valley fault system, 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 1557 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 34 km (21 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 830 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 6.7 410,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 18,000× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 13,000× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.0 about 830 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 9,100 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 22 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.3 The 1934 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada Earthquake · 41 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 7 km ENE of Mammoth Lakes, California · 47 km SSW of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 8 km NNE of Mammoth Lakes, California · 44 km SSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 3 km NE of Mono City, California · 32 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.6 Excelsior Mountains, Nevada (Foreshock) · 39 km NE 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 38.0823, -118.7495. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mono County, CA 22 km (13 mi) SSW earthquakes near Mono County
Mineral County, NV 56 km (35 mi) NNE earthquakes near Mineral County
Esmeralda County, NV 104 km (64 mi) ESE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Tuolumne County, CA 107 km (66 mi) W earthquakes near Tuolumne County
Alpine County, CA 109 km (68 mi) WNW earthquakes near Alpine County
Lyon County, NV 112 km (69 mi) NNW earthquakes near Lyon 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.

  1. 1.5 23 km SE of Hawthorne, Nevada
  2. 2.3 40km NNE of Toms Place, CA
  3. 1.6 38km NNE of Toms Place, CA
  4. 1.5 28km SE of Bodie, CA
  5. 1.8 38km NNE of Toms Place, CA
  6. 1.9 26 km SSW of Mina, Nevada
  7. 1.5 33 km E of Mono City, California
  8. 1.6 25 km SSW of Mina, Nevada
  9. 1.6 29 km ENE of Bridgeport, California
  10. 2.8 39km NNE of Toms Place, CA
  11. 2.0 32 km SSW of Mina, Nevada
  12. 3.1 29 km ENE of Bridgeport, California
  13. 1.8 33 km SSW of Mina, Nevada
  14. 1.7 32 km SSW of Mina, Nevada
  15. 1.8 40km 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.