QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

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 1.7 earthquake was recorded 46 km (28 mi) east-northeast of Bishop, CA, at 1:13 pm PDT on 16 August 2017 (20:13 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

USGS: 17 km SE of Dyer, Nevada

1:13 pm PDT, Aug 16, 2017 · · 0.0 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Bishop Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Esmeralda County 37 kmMono County 92 kmMineral County 115 kmInyo County 120 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
1:13 pm PDT on 16 August 2017 ()
Where
46 km (28 mi) east-northeast of Bishop, CA · earthquakes near Bishop
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
0.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Esmeralda County, 37 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
McAfee Canyon fault, 9 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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Bishop, 46 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 11 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 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

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 · 45 km W of this epicentre
  2. 6.1 46km E of Big Pine, California · 46 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 Near Bishop, California · 49 km WSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.9 18 km NNE of Mesa, California · 44 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 10 km NNE of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, California · 39 km WSW 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 37.5530, -117.9382. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Esmeralda County, NV 37 km (23 mi) NE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Mono County, CA 92 km (57 mi) WNW earthquakes near Mono County
Mineral County, NV 115 km (71 mi) NNW earthquakes near Mineral County
Inyo County, CA 120 km (75 mi) SSE earthquakes near Inyo County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 1km SW of Bishop, CA
  2. 1.6 1km WSW of Bishop, CA
  3. 2.7 2km SW of Bishop, CA
  4. 1.6 7km NE of Wilkerson, CA
  5. 1.5 54 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
  6. 2.0 8km ESE of Deep Springs, CA
  7. 3.5 8km ESE of Deep Springs, CA
  8. 2.2 18km N of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
  9. 1.5 17km N of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
  10. 1.5 20 km NW of Silver Peak, Nevada
  11. 1.6 12km NNE of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
  12. 1.6 53 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
  13. 1.8 13km NNE of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
  14. 1.6 13km NNE of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA
  15. 1.7 56 km E of Big Pine, 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.