QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

13km SSE of Bodie, CA

Yes. A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 13km SSE of Bodie, CA, at 3:11 am PDT on 23 September 2021 (10:11 UTC), 5.1 km deep.

· 5.1 km deep · released about 9 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mono County 22 kmMineral County 65 kmTuolumne County 89 kmAlpine County 94 kmMariposa County 103 kmLyon County 104 kmDouglas County 106 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 1.6 (md)
Depth
5.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mono County, 22 km SSE
Nearest mapped fault
Mono Lake fault, 20 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 1861 days ago

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. 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 9 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 9 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 840,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.0 7 km ENE of Mammoth Lakes, California · 48 km S of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 8 km NNE of Mammoth Lakes, California · 43 km S of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 3 km NE of Mono City, California · 16 km WSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 27 km NW of Benton, California · 26 km ESE of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 27 km NW of Benton, California · 27 km ESE 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 38.1047, -118.9487. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mono County, CA 22 km (14 mi) SSE earthquakes near Mono County
Mineral County, NV 65 km (41 mi) NE earthquakes near Mineral County
Tuolumne County, CA 89 km (56 mi) W earthquakes near Tuolumne County
Alpine County, CA 94 km (58 mi) NW earthquakes near Alpine County
Mariposa County, CA 103 km (64 mi) SW earthquakes near Mariposa County
Lyon County, NV 104 km (65 mi) NNW earthquakes near Lyon County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

38 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 2.3 31km SE of Bodie, CA
  2. 2.1 13km SSE of Bodie, CA
  3. 1.7 13km SSE of Bodie, CA
  4. 1.6 17 km ENE of Mono City, California
  5. 1.9 13km SSE of Bodie, CA
  6. 1.7 13km SSE of Bodie, CA
  7. 1.8 42km S of Qualeys Camp, NV
  8. 1.6 13km SSE of Bodie, CA
  9. 1.5 14 km SW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  10. 1.6 18 km ENE of Mono City, California
  11. 2.4 13km SSE of Bodie, CA
  12. 2.3 14km S of Bodie, CA
  13. 1.5 17 km ENE of Mono City, California
  14. 2.5 14km SSE of Bodie, CA
  15. 2.4 13km SSE of Bodie, 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.