Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Bishop, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Bishop in the 24 hours to 5:34 am PST (13:34 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 12 km (8 mi) south-southwest of Bishop, CA, at 9:50 am PDT on 30 March 2023 (16:50 UTC), 15 km deep.
USGS: 4km WSW of Wilkerson, CA
- When
- 9:50 am PDT on 30 March 2023 ()
- Where
- 12 km (8 mi) south-southwest of Bishop, CA · earthquakes near Bishop
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 15 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Mono County, 83 km NNW
- 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 1323 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Bishop, 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Bishop, 12 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, Big Pine.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,300,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.6 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 4.8 on 2016-02-16 — about 65,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 28 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 The 1986 Chalfant Valley, California Earthquake · 31 km N of this epicentre
- 6.2 9 km SW of Aspen Springs, California · 43 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.1 8 km W of Aspen Springs, California · 47 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.1 4 km NNW of Round Valley, California · 27 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.0 Near Bishop, California · 8 km N 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 37.2570, -118.4317. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mono County, CA | 83 km (52 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Mono County |
| Esmeralda County, NV | 91 km (57 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Madera County, CA | 117 km (73 mi) | W | earthquakes near Madera County |
| Tulare County, CA | 118 km (74 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Inyo County, CA | 120 km (74 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| Fresno County, CA | 122 km (76 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Fresno 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.
- 1.6 14 km W of Toms Place, CA
- 2.7 9 km NE of Round Valley, CA
- 1.6 20 km E of Toms Place, CA
- 1.5 14 km W of Toms Place, CA
- 2.0 12 km WSW of Toms Place, CA
- 2.0 9 km NE of Round Valley, CA
- 1.9 9 km NE of Round Valley, CA
- 1.7 15 km WSW of Toms Place, CA
- 2.5 11 km WSW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.6 13 km SSW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.6 15 km WSW of Toms Place, CA
- 1.7 11 km WSW of Round Valley, CA
- 1.5 11 km W of Toms Place, CA
- 2.4 16km NNW of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
- 2.2 14km 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
- 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.