QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7md

Earthquake near Mammoth Lakes, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Mammoth Lakes in the 24 hours to 2:23 pm PST (22:23 UTC). The last one was M 2.9, 26 km (16 mi) SSE, at 3:54 am PDT on 24 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Mammoth Lakes

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 48 km (30 mi) north of Mammoth Lakes, CA, at 10:38 pm PDT on 16 March 2026 (05:38 UTC), 12 km deep.

USGS: 14 km S of Bodie, CA

10:38 pm PDT, Mar 16, 2026 · · 12 km deep · released about 9.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Mammoth Lakes Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Mono County 21 kmMineral County 69 kmTuolumne County 86 kmAlpine County 93 kmMariposa County 99 kmLyon County 106 kmDouglas County 106 kmMadera County 118 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
10:38 pm PDT on 16 March 2026 ()
Where
48 km (30 mi) north of Mammoth Lakes, CA · earthquakes near Mammoth Lakes
Magnitude
M 1.7 (md)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Mono County, 21 km SSE
Nearest mapped fault
Mono Lake fault, 17 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 231 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 1 km (1 mi) from the epicentre. In Mammoth Lakes, 48 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 9.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 99× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 9.6 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 5.6 on 2016-12-28 — about 790,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.0 7 km ENE of Mammoth Lakes, California · 46 km S of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 8 km NNE of Mammoth Lakes, California · 41 km S of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 3 km NE of Mono City, California · 12 km WSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 27 km NW of Benton, California · 28 km ESE of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 27 km NW of Benton, California · 29 km ESE 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 38.0847, -118.9842. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Mono County, CA 21 km (13 mi) SSE earthquakes near Mono County
Mineral County, NV 69 km (43 mi) NE earthquakes near Mineral County
Tuolumne County, CA 86 km (54 mi) W earthquakes near Tuolumne County
Alpine County, CA 93 km (58 mi) NW earthquakes near Alpine County
Mariposa County, CA 99 km (62 mi) SW earthquakes near Mariposa County
Lyon County, NV 106 km (66 mi) N earthquakes near Lyon County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.7 32 km SE of Bodie, CA
  2. 2.8 39 km SSW of Qualeys Camp, NV
  3. 1.8 33 km SE of Bodie, CA
  4. 1.7 15 km NE of Lee Vining, CA
  5. 2.8 32 km SE of Bodie, CA
  6. 2.3 38 km NNE of Toms Place, CA
  7. 2.4 38 km NNE of Toms Place, CA
  8. 1.4 18 km SW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  9. 2.5 28 km SE of Bodie, CA
  10. 1.7 29 km SW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  11. 1.8 15 km NNE of Lee Vining, CA
  12. 1.6 13 km SSW of Hawthorne, Nevada
  13. 2.0 16 km S of Bridgeport, CA
  14. 1.8 37 km NNE of Toms Place, CA
  15. 1.6 25 km SSW of Hawthorne, Nevada

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.