Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Big Pine, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Big Pine in the 24 hours to 2:02 pm PST (22:02 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 1.5 earthquake was recorded 34 km (21 mi) east of Big Pine, CA, at 10:43 am PDT on 20 October 2017 (17:43 UTC), 6.6 km deep.
USGS: California-Nevada border region
- When
- 10:43 am PDT on 20 October 2017 ()
- Where
- 34 km (21 mi) east of Big Pine, CA · earthquakes near Big Pine
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 6.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Inyo County, 76 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Deep Springs 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 3055 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Big Pine, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Big Pine, CA. No account or email needed.
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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Big Pine, 34 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 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 in our catalogue was M 4.8 on 2016-02-16 — about 80,000 times the energy of this one.
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 37.1073, -117.9165. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inyo County, CA | 76 km (47 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| Esmeralda County, NV | 79 km (49 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Mono County, CA | 123 km (77 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Mono County |
| Tulare County, CA | 124 km (77 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Tulare 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.
- 1.8 56 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
- 1.6 6km NE of Big Pine, CA
- 1.7 8km NNE of Big Pine, CA
- 2.5 44km ENE of Independence, CA
- 1.6 32km ENE of Independence, CA
- 1.6 33km ENE of Independence, CA
- 1.6 6km NNE of Big Pine, CA
- 1.9 33 km E of Big Pine, California
- 1.8 3km NE of Big Pine, CA
- 1.7 7km SE of Wilkerson, CA
- 1.6 8km N of Big Pine, CA
- 1.6 4km NE of Big Pine, CA
- 2.0 5km NE of Big Pine, CA
- 1.8 4km SE of Deep Springs, CA
- 1.8 4km E of Bishop, 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.