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.
- 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
Earthquake alerts for Mammoth Lakes, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Mammoth Lakes, 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. 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
- 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:
- 6.0 7 km ENE of Mammoth Lakes, California · 48 km S of this epicentre
- 5.9 8 km NNE of Mammoth Lakes, California · 43 km S of this epicentre
- 5.8 3 km NE of Mono City, California · 16 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.4 27 km NW of Benton, California · 26 km ESE of this epicentre
- 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
| Place | Distance | Direction 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.
- 2.3 31km SE of Bodie, CA
- 2.1 13km SSE of Bodie, CA
- 1.7 13km SSE of Bodie, CA
- 1.6 17 km ENE of Mono City, California
- 1.9 13km SSE of Bodie, CA
- 1.7 13km SSE of Bodie, CA
- 1.8 42km S of Qualeys Camp, NV
- 1.6 13km SSE of Bodie, CA
- 1.5 14 km SW of Hawthorne, Nevada
- 1.6 18 km ENE of Mono City, California
- 2.4 13km SSE of Bodie, CA
- 2.3 14km S of Bodie, CA
- 1.5 17 km ENE of Mono City, California
- 2.5 14km SSE of Bodie, CA
- 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
- 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.