QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Big Pine, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Big Pine in the 24 hours to 3:34 pm PST (23:34 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 29 km (18 mi) south of Big Pine, CA, at 2:35 am PDT on 13 October 2017 (09:35 UTC), 12 km deep.

USGS: 12 km NNW of Independence, California

2:35 am PDT, Oct 13, 2017 · · 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 Inyo County 83 kmTulare County 91 kmEsmeralda County 110 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
2:35 am PDT on 13 October 2017 ()
Where
29 km (18 mi) south of Big Pine, CA · earthquakes near Big Pine
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Inyo County, 83 km ESE
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 3055 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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Big Pine, 29 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.

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 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× 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 29,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.1 46km E of Big Pine, California · 49 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 Near Bishop, California · 50 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 4 km SSW of Bishop, California · 50 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 10 km N of Independence, California · 3 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 36.9115, -118.2273. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Inyo County, CA 83 km (52 mi) ESE earthquakes near Inyo County
Tulare County, CA 91 km (56 mi) SSW earthquakes near Tulare County
Esmeralda County, NV 110 km (68 mi) NNE earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Mono County, CA 125 km (78 mi) NNW earthquakes near Mono County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 6km NE of Lone Pine, CA
  2. 2.3 26km WSW of Wilkerson, CA
  3. 2.0 21km SW of Big Pine, CA
  4. 2.0 6km ENE of Big Pine, CA
  5. 1.6 3km WSW of Wilkerson, CA
  6. 1.6 35 km NE of Independence, California
  7. 1.6 45km E of Independence, CA
  8. 1.6 7 km SE of Big Pine, California
  9. 1.6 6km NE of Big Pine, CA
  10. 1.7 8km NNE of Big Pine, CA
  11. 2.5 44km ENE of Independence, CA
  12. 1.6 32km ENE of Independence, CA
  13. 1.6 33km ENE of Independence, CA
  14. 1.6 6km NNE of Big Pine, CA
  15. 1.9 33 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.