QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6md

Earthquake near Bishop, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Bishop in the 24 hours to 12:27 am PST (08:27 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 24 km (15 mi) northwest of Bishop, CA, at 10:56 am PDT on 12 August 2024 (17:56 UTC), 6.5 km deep.

USGS: 11 km ESE of Toms Place, CA

10:56 am PDT, Aug 12, 2024 · · 6.5 km deep · released about 6.6 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mono County 50 kmEsmeralda County 87 kmMineral County 110 kmMadera County 111 kmMariposa County 119 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
10:56 am PDT on 12 August 2024 ()
Where
24 km (15 mi) northwest of Bishop, CA · earthquakes near Bishop
Magnitude
M 1.6 (md)
Depth
6.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mono County, 50 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
Long Valley fault, 7 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 815 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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Bishop, 24 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: Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, West Bishop.

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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
  4. 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 41 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 The 1986 Chalfant Valley, California Earthquake · 11 km E of this epicentre
  2. 6.2 9 km SW of Aspen Springs, California · 21 km W of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 11 km WNW of Aspen Springs, California · 24 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 6.1 8 km W of Aspen Springs, California · 21 km W of this epicentre
  5. 6.1 4 km NNW of Round Valley, California · 9 km SSW 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 37.5347, -118.5655. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mono County, CA 50 km (31 mi) NNW earthquakes near Mono County
Esmeralda County, NV 87 km (54 mi) ENE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Mineral County, NV 110 km (68 mi) N earthquakes near Mineral County
Madera County, CA 111 km (69 mi) WSW earthquakes near Madera County
Mariposa County, CA 119 km (74 mi) W earthquakes near Mariposa County
Fresno County, CA 129 km (80 mi) SW earthquakes near Fresno 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. 2.8 12 km WSW of Wilkerson, CA
  2. 1.9 2 km SW of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
  3. 1.8 6 km W of Mammoth Lakes, CA
  4. 2.1 14 km WSW of Toms Place, CA
  5. 3.8 2 km SW of Round Valley, CA
  6. 1.6 15 km SSE of Mammoth Lakes, CA
  7. 1.7 2 km SSW of Round Valley, CA
  8. 1.5 6 km W of Mammoth Lakes, CA
  9. 2.5 17 km WSW of Toms Place, CA
  10. 1.6 19 km E of Toms Place, CA
  11. 2.2 18 km WSW of Toms Place, CA
  12. 2.4 18 km WSW of Toms Place, CA
  13. 1.6 17 km WSW of Toms Place, CA
  14. 1.8 7 km NW of West Bishop, CA
  15. 2.2 8 km ENE of Big Pine, 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.