QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Bishop, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Bishop in the 24 hours to 10:18 am PST (18:18 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 9 km (5 mi) NW, at 9:02 pm PDT on 30 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Bishop

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) northwest of Bishop, CA, at 5:08 am PST on 19 December 2021 (13:08 UTC), 6.3 km deep.

USGS: 8km NNE of Round Valley, CA

5:08 am PST, Dec 19, 2021 · · 6.3 km deep · released about 13 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mono County 56 kmEsmeralda County 88 kmMadera County 110 kmMineral County 116 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
5:08 am PST on 19 December 2021 ()
Where
19 km (12 mi) northwest of Bishop, CA · earthquakes near Bishop
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
6.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mono County, 56 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
Long Valley fault, 9 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 1787 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. In Bishop, 19 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: West Bishop, Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 13 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 840,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 75× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 13 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 34,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 40 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 The 1986 Chalfant Valley, California Earthquake · 12 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 9 km SW of Aspen Springs, California · 22 km W of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 11 km WNW of Aspen Springs, California · 27 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 8 km W of Aspen Springs, California · 24 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 4 km NNW of Round Valley, California · 5 km WSW 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 37.4802, -118.5548. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mono County, CA 56 km (35 mi) NNW earthquakes near Mono County
Esmeralda County, NV 88 km (55 mi) ENE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Madera County, CA 110 km (68 mi) WSW earthquakes near Madera County
Mineral County, NV 116 km (72 mi) N earthquakes near Mineral County
Mariposa County, CA 120 km (75 mi) W earthquakes near Mariposa County
Fresno County, CA 126 km (78 mi) SW earthquakes near Fresno County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.3 0km SW of Round Valley, CA
  2. 1.6 1km SSW of Round Valley, CA
  3. 3.9 1km SW of Round Valley, CA
  4. 1.6 16km N of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
  5. 1.9 15km WSW of Toms Place, CA
  6. 2.4 15km SW of Toms Place, CA
  7. 1.6 17km E of Toms Place, CA
  8. 1.8 9km WSW of Round Valley, CA
  9. 1.6 10km SSW of Mammoth Lakes, CA
  10. 1.9 17km S of Mammoth Lakes, CA
  11. 1.7 16km S of Mammoth Lakes, CA
  12. 1.5 10km W of Toms Place, CA
  13. 1.6 15km SW of Toms Place, CA
  14. 2.1 19km ENE of Toms Place, CA
  15. 1.8 16km WSW 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.