QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Bishop, CA

Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Bishop in the last 24 hours. M 1.9, 12 km (8 mi) WNW of Bishop, at 8:40 am PST on 13 November 2026 (16:40 UTC); the estimated shaking in Bishop was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Bishop

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 25 km (16 mi) east of Bishop, CA, at 3:23 am PST on 29 February 2016 (11:23 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: 25 km E of Bishop, California

3:23 am PST, Feb 29, 2016 · · 11 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Bishop Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Esmeralda County 60 kmMono County 88 kmInyo County 113 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
3:23 am PST on 29 February 2016 ()
Where
25 km (16 mi) east of Bishop, CA · earthquakes near Bishop
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Esmeralda County, 60 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
Deep Springs fault, 14 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 3056 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 3 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Bishop, 25 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.6 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 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 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 57,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 19 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 The 1986 Chalfant Valley, California Earthquake · 33 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 4 km NNW of Round Valley, California · 44 km W of this epicentre
  3. 6.1 46km E of Big Pine, California · 40 km SE of this epicentre
  4. 6.0 Near Bishop, California · 28 km WSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.9 18 km NNE of Mesa, California · 34 km WNW 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 37.4014, -118.1124. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Esmeralda County, NV 60 km (37 mi) NE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Mono County, CA 88 km (55 mi) NW earthquakes near Mono County
Inyo County, CA 113 km (70 mi) SE earthquakes near Inyo County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 3 km ENE of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, California
  2. 1.6 4 km SSE of Mesa, California
  3. 1.9 5 km WNW of Round Valley, California
  4. 1.9 8 km S of Wilkerson, California
  5. 3.2 8 km ENE of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, California
  6. 2.2 8 km ENE of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, California
  7. 1.6 5 km E of Mesa, California
  8. 1.8 11 km E of Big Pine, California
  9. 1.6 1 km WSW of Swall Meadows, California
  10. 1.6 1 km W of Swall Meadows, California
  11. 1.8 2 km ENE of Mesa, California
  12. 1.7 2 km ENE of Mesa, California
  13. 1.7 1 km ESE of Mesa, California
  14. 1.8 5 km NNE of Round Valley, California
  15. 2.6 5 km E of Mesa, California

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.