QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1md

Earthquake near Yosemite Valley, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Yosemite Valley in the 24 hours to 3:51 pm PST (23:51 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 22 km (14 mi) SE, at 7:51 am PDT on 28 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Yosemite Valley

This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 40 km (25 mi) north of Yosemite Valley, CA, at 12:20 am PDT on 10 May 2022 (07:20 UTC), 9.5 km deep.

USGS: 24km NE of Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, CA

12:20 am PDT, May 10, 2022 · · 9.5 km deep · released about 44 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Tuolumne County 33 kmAlpine County 60 kmMariposa County 65 kmMono County 67 kmCalaveras County 84 kmDouglas County 89 kmAmador County 100 kmMadera County 100 kmLyon County 108 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
12:20 am PDT on 10 May 2022 ()
Where
40 km (25 mi) north of Yosemite Valley, CA · earthquakes near Yosemite Valley
Magnitude
M 2.1 (md)
Depth
9.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Tuolumne County, 33 km WSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1646 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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Yosemite Valley, 40 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 44 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 340,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 240,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 22× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 44 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 6.0 on 2021-07-08 — about 680,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 3 km NE of Mono City, California · 42 km E of this epicentre
  2. 5.2 23 km S of Walker, California · 23 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 19 km W of Bridgeport, California · 18 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 8 km W of Bridgeport, California · 29 km NE 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 38.1032, -119.5970. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Tuolumne County, CA 33 km (21 mi) WSW earthquakes near Tuolumne County
Alpine County, CA 60 km (37 mi) NNW earthquakes near Alpine County
Mariposa County, CA 65 km (40 mi) SSW earthquakes near Mariposa County
Mono County, CA 67 km (41 mi) ESE earthquakes near Mono County
Calaveras County, CA 84 km (52 mi) W earthquakes near Calaveras County
Douglas County, NV 89 km (55 mi) N earthquakes near Douglas County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 4 km SSW of Coleville, California
  2. 1.6 4 km SSW of Coleville, California
  3. 2.2 6km WSW of Walker, CA
  4. 2.3 3km W of Walker, CA
  5. 3.1 3km W of Walker, CA
  6. 1.6 2 km NW of Walker, California
  7. 2.3 6km WSW of Walker, CA
  8. 3.2 4km W of Walker, CA
  9. 2.9 3km WNW of Walker, CA
  10. 2.2 3km W of Walker, CA
  11. 3.0 6km NW of Walker, CA
  12. 2.0 9km W of Bridgeport, CA
  13. 1.7 14km E of Yosemite Valley, CA
  14. 2.3 12km SW of Walker, CA
  15. 1.9 9 km WSW of Coleville, California

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.