Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Big Pine, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Big Pine in the 24 hours to 12:30 pm PST (20:30 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 37 km (23 mi) east-southeast of Big Pine, CA, at 8:46 pm PST on 12 March 2016 (04:46 UTC), 6.2 km deep.
USGS: 36 km ESE of Big Pine, California
- When
- 8:46 pm PST on 12 March 2016 ()
- Where
- 37 km (23 mi) east-southeast of Big Pine, CA · earthquakes near Big Pine
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 6.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Inyo County, 73 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Deep Springs fault, 20 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
Earthquake alerts for Big Pine, CA
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Big Pine, 37 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 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- 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 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.1 46km E of Big Pine, California · 12 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.5 10 km N of Independence, California · 36 km SW 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 37.0990, -117.8848. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inyo County, CA | 73 km (46 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| Esmeralda County, NV | 79 km (49 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Tulare County, CA | 126 km (78 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Mono County, CA | 126 km (78 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Mono County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
53 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 57 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
- 1.6 66km NNW of Stovepipe Wells, CA
- 2.0 12 km SE of Independence, California
- 1.9 20 km S of Dyer, Nevada
- 1.6 California-Nevada border region
- 2.2 62km ENE of Big Pine, CA
- 1.6 59 km WNW of Beatty, Nevada
- 1.5 60 km WNW of Beatty, Nevada
- 1.9 60 km WNW of Beatty, Nevada
- 1.7 3 km ENE of Wilkerson, California
- 1.8 44km ENE of Independence, CA
- 2.4 5 km SSE of Wilkerson, California
- 1.6 5 km ESE of Wilkerson, California
- 1.7 6 km NE of Wilkerson, California
- 1.6 20km S 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.