QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8md

Earthquake near Big Pine, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Big Pine in the 24 hours to 6:02 am PST (14:02 UTC). The last one was M 1.6, 9 km (6 mi) NNE, at 10:07 am PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Big Pine

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) north of Big Pine, CA, at 2:36 pm PDT on 8 August 2025 (21:36 UTC), 12 km deep.

USGS: 3 km N of Big Pine, CA

2:36 pm PDT, Aug 8, 2025 · · 12 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Big Pine Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Esmeralda County 88 kmMono County 96 kmInyo County 105 kmTulare County 115 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
2:36 pm PDT on 8 August 2025 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) north of Big Pine, CA · earthquakes near Big Pine
Magnitude
M 1.8 (md)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Esmeralda County, 88 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
Southern Sierra Nevada fault, 5 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 458 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 5 km (3 mi) from the epicentre. In Big Pine, 3 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: Big Pine 3 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 730,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 65× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 30,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 17 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 The 1986 Chalfant Valley, California Earthquake · 41 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 4 km NNW of Round Valley, California · 41 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 46km E of Big Pine, California · 46 km E of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 Near Bishop, California · 19 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 5.9 18 km NNE of Mesa, California · 44 km NNW 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 37.1897, -118.2920. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Esmeralda County, NV 88 km (54 mi) NE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Mono County, CA 96 km (59 mi) NNW earthquakes near Mono County
Inyo County, CA 105 km (65 mi) SE earthquakes near Inyo County
Tulare County, CA 115 km (72 mi) SSW earthquakes near Tulare County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 11 km NNE of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
  2. 1.7 11 km ESE of Big Pine, California
  3. 3.6 7 km SE of Deep Springs, CA
  4. 1.6 38 km ENE of Big Pine, California
  5. 1.7 14 km WSW of Round Valley, CA
  6. 2.4 5 km WNW of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
  7. 1.7 7 km NNW of Round Valley, CA
  8. 2.6 3 km SE of Wilkerson, CA
  9. 2.5 24 km SE of Big Pine, CA
  10. 3.0 3 km SE of Round Valley, CA
  11. 2.2 3 km SE of Round Valley, CA
  12. 1.8 13 km SW of Big Pine, California
  13. 1.9 8 km SE of Deep Springs, CA
  14. 2.9 4 km ENE of Round Valley, CA
  15. 1.7 3 km ENE of Round Valley, 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.