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 2:42 pm PST (22:42 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 29 km (18 mi) east-southeast of Bishop, CA, at 12:59 am PDT on 5 May 2024 (07:59 UTC), 9.5 km deep.

USGS: 16 km SW of Deep Springs, CA

12:59 am PDT, May 5, 2024 · · 9.5 km deep · released about 91 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Esmeralda County 71 kmInyo County 98 kmMono County 101 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
12:59 am PDT on 5 May 2024 ()
Where
29 km (18 mi) east-southeast of Bishop, CA · earthquakes near Bishop
Magnitude
M 2.3 (md)
Depth
9.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Esmeralda County, 71 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
Deep Springs fault, 3 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 920 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, 29 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: Big Pine.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 91 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 5.8 170,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 120,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 10× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 91 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 4,700 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 14 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 The 1986 Chalfant Valley, California Earthquake · 44 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 46km E of Big Pine, California · 30 km ESE of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 Near Bishop, California · 30 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.9 18 km NNE of Mesa, California · 46 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 10 km NNE of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, California · 34 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 37.2575, -118.0893. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Esmeralda County, NV 71 km (44 mi) NE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Inyo County, CA 98 km (61 mi) SE earthquakes near Inyo County
Mono County, CA 101 km (63 mi) NW earthquakes near Mono County
Tulare County, CA 130 km (81 mi) SSW earthquakes near Tulare County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 9 km ENE of Round Valley, CA
  2. 1.5 32 km SE of Dyer, Nevada
  3. 2.2 1 km ESE of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
  4. 1.9 43 km ENE of Independence, California
  5. 1.8 8 km SE of Big Pine, CA
  6. 3.0 7 km E of Bishop, CA
  7. 1.6 7 km SE of Wilkerson, CA
  8. 2.1 15 km N of Independence, CA
  9. 1.7 18 km E of Toms Place, CA
  10. 2.5 26 km WSW of Big Pine, CA
  11. 2.1 20 km NNE of Deep Springs, CA
  12. 2.2 20 km NNE of Deep Springs, CA
  13. 1.5 4 km NNW of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
  14. 1.6 20 km N of Deep Springs, CA
  15. 2.5 10 km WSW of Wilkerson, 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.