Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.9md
Earthquake near Big Pine, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Big Pine in the 24 hours to 12:28 pm PST (20:28 UTC). The last one was M 1.6, 9 km (6 mi) NNE, at 10:07 am PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Big Pine
This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 20 km (12 mi) south of Big Pine, CA, at 12:44 pm PDT on 6 October 2021 (19:44 UTC), 1.8 km deep.
USGS: 20km S of Big Pine, CA
- When
- 12:44 pm PDT on 6 October 2021 ()
- Where
- 20 km (12 mi) south of Big Pine, CA · earthquakes near Big Pine
- Magnitude
- M 1.9 (md)
- Depth
- 1.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Tulare County, 94 km SSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Southern Sierra Nevada fault, 7 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 1863 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Big Pine, CA
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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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Big Pine, 20 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 24 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 640,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 450,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 40× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.9 about 24 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 18,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.0 Near Bishop, California · 39 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 4 km SSW of Bishop, California · 39 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 10 km N of Independence, California · 15 km SE 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 36.9890, -118.3223. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tulare County, CA | 94 km (58 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Inyo County, CA | 95 km (59 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| Esmeralda County, NV | 107 km (66 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Mono County, CA | 114 km (71 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Mono County |
| Fresno County, CA | 121 km (75 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Fresno County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
35 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 33km ESE of Big Pine, CA
- 2.8 33km ESE of Big Pine, CA
- 2.4 34km ESE of Big Pine, CA
- 2.0 33km ESE of Big Pine, CA
- 1.9 34km ESE of Big Pine, CA
- 1.6 34km ESE of Big Pine, CA
- 2.4 8km N of Big Pine, CA
- 2.5 8km N of Big Pine, CA
- 1.6 8km N of Big Pine, CA
- 1.5 33 km NE of Independence, California
- 1.5 16km WSW of Deep Springs, CA
- 2.6 15km WSW of Deep Springs, CA
- 1.6 2km WNW of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
- 1.5 31km SSW of Round Valley, CA
- 2.4 1km ENE of Bishop, 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.