QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6md

Earthquake near Bishop, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Bishop in the 24 hours to 8:38 am PST (16:38 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 2.6 earthquake was recorded 23 km (14 mi) southwest of Bishop, CA, at 10:03 am PDT on 12 May 2024 (17:03 UTC), 13 km deep.

USGS: 19 km W of Wilkerson, CA

10:03 am PDT, May 12, 2024 · · 13 km deep · released about 260 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mono County 81 kmMadera County 103 kmEsmeralda County 104 kmFresno County 108 kmTulare County 112 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
10:03 am PDT on 12 May 2024 ()
Where
23 km (14 mi) southwest of Bishop, CA · earthquakes near Bishop
Magnitude
M 2.6 (md)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mono County, 81 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
Round Valley fault, 6 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 845 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 21 km (13 mi) from the epicentre. In Bishop, 23 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: West Bishop 19 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 260 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 59,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 42,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.7× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 260 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 1,700 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 34 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 The 1986 Chalfant Valley, California Earthquake · 37 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 9 km SW of Aspen Springs, California · 36 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 11 km WNW of Aspen Springs, California · 46 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 8 km W of Aspen Springs, California · 41 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 4 km NNW of Round Valley, California · 26 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 37.2253, -118.5875. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mono County, CA 81 km (50 mi) NNW earthquakes near Mono County
Madera County, CA 103 km (64 mi) W earthquakes near Madera County
Esmeralda County, NV 104 km (65 mi) NE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Fresno County, CA 108 km (67 mi) WSW earthquakes near Fresno County
Tulare County, CA 112 km (70 mi) S earthquakes near Tulare County
Mariposa County, CA 123 km (77 mi) WNW earthquakes near Mariposa County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.5 26 km WSW of Big Pine, CA
  2. 2.4 13 km SE of Mammoth Lakes, CA
  3. 2.2 18 km W of Toms Place, CA
  4. 2.3 7 km SE of Toms Place, CA
  5. 2.1 27 km SSW of Mammoth Lakes, CA
  6. 2.5 13 km SSE of Mammoth Lakes, CA
  7. 1.5 4 km NNW of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
  8. 2.5 10 km WSW of Wilkerson, CA
  9. 1.7 15 km WSW of Toms Place, CA
  10. 1.6 9 km ENE of Bishop, CA
  11. 1.9 15 km W of Toms Place, CA
  12. 1.8 1 km ENE of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
  13. 1.5 15 km W of Toms Place, CA
  14. 1.7 11 km WSW of Toms Place, CA
  15. 2.0 10 km 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.