Earthquake near Mammoth Lakes, CA

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Mammoth Lakes, 49 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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 5.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,700,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.6 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 4.4 on 2020-02-01 — about 22,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 23 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.2 9 km SW of Aspen Springs, California · 36 km NNE of this epicentre May 27, 1980
2. 6.1 11 km WNW of Aspen Springs, California · 44 km NNE of this epicentre May 25, 1980
3. 6.1 8 km W of Aspen Springs, California · 41 km NNE of this epicentre May 25, 1980
4. 6.1 4 km NNW of Round Valley, California · 43 km NE of this epicentre Nov 23, 1984
5. 6.0 Mammoth Lakes area, California · 46 km NNE of this epicentre Sep 14, 1941

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 37.2078, -118.9770. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 1.9 15km WSW of Toms Place, CA 22:50 UTC
2. 2.4 15km SW of Toms Place, CA 19:43 UTC
3. 1.8 9km WSW of Round Valley, CA 07:22 UTC
4. 1.6 10km SSW of Mammoth Lakes, CA 07:51 UTC
5. 1.9 17km S of Mammoth Lakes, CA 08:00 UTC
6. 1.7 16km S of Mammoth Lakes, CA 05:58 UTC
7. 1.6 1km WSW of Auberry, CA 22:38 UTC
8. 1.5 10km W of Toms Place, CA 04:24 UTC
9. 1.6 15km SW of Toms Place, CA 00:36 UTC
10. 1.8 16km WSW of Toms Place, CA 07:24 UTC
11. 1.6 26km NE of North Fork, CA 02:46 UTC
12. 1.9 10km E of Mammoth Lakes, CA 18:04 UTC
13. 2.1 10km WSW of Toms Place, CA 03:18 UTC
14. 2.4 15km SW of Toms Place, CA 08:53 UTC
15. 1.7 1km NE of Round Valley, CA 12:29 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 14:35 UTC. 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.