QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3md

Earthquake near Bishop, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Bishop in the 24 hours to 7:16 am PST (15:16 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 2.3 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) south-southeast of Bishop, CA, at 9:41 pm PDT on 30 September 2022 (04:41 UTC), 8.2 km deep.

USGS: 5km E of Wilkerson, CA

9:41 pm PDT, Sep 30, 2022 · · 8.2 km deep · released about 82 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Bishop Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Esmeralda County 83 kmMono County 86 kmInyo County 114 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
9:41 pm PDT on 30 September 2022 ()
Where
11 km (7 mi) south-southeast of Bishop, CA · earthquakes near Bishop
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
8.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Esmeralda County, 83 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
Owens Valley fault, 8 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 1503 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 18 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Bishop, 11 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.

Likely felt in: Bishop 11 km, intensity II · Big Pine 13 km, intensity II · Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek 14 km, intensity II · West Bishop 15 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 82 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 180,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 12× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 82 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 5,200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 24 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 The 1986 Chalfant Valley, California Earthquake · 31 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 9 km SW of Aspen Springs, California · 49 km WNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 4 km NNW of Round Valley, California · 32 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 Near Bishop, California · 10 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 6.0 Mammoth Lakes area, California · 48 km NW 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 37.2782, -118.3260. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Esmeralda County, NV 83 km (51 mi) NE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Mono County, CA 86 km (53 mi) NW earthquakes near Mono County
Inyo County, CA 114 km (71 mi) SE earthquakes near Inyo County
Tulare County, CA 124 km (77 mi) SSW earthquakes near Tulare County
Fresno County, CA 131 km (82 mi) WSW earthquakes near Fresno County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.6 10km WSW of Toms Place, CA
  2. 1.7 6km NNE of Round Valley, CA
  3. 1.7 California-Nevada border region
  4. 1.6 3km E of Round Valley, CA
  5. 1.8 8km SE of Big Pine, CA
  6. 1.7 3km ENE of Bishop, CA
  7. 3.1 2km ENE of Bishop, CA
  8. 1.6 8km WNW of Round Valley, CA
  9. 1.7 3 km ENE of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, California
  10. 2.2 6km ENE of Round Valley, CA
  11. 1.6 18km W of Round Valley, CA
  12. 2.3 7km N of Round Valley, CA
  13. 1.6 6km NW of West Bishop, CA
  14. 1.5 6km NW of West Bishop, CA
  15. 1.7 17km NNW of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, 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.