QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

60 km E of Big Pine, California

Yes. A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 60 km E of Big Pine, California, at 3:13 am PDT on 19 April 2018 (10:13 UTC), 10 km deep.

· 10 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Esmeralda County 68 kmInyo County 70 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
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Esmeralda County, 68 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Fish Lake Valley 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 3129 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. 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

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

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.1 46km E of Big Pine, California · 15 km W 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 37.1686, -117.6104. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Esmeralda County, NV 68 km (42 mi) N earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Inyo County, CA 70 km (43 mi) SSE earthquakes near Inyo County
Nye County, NV 135 km (84 mi) NE earthquakes near Nye County
Mono County, CA 139 km (86 mi) NW earthquakes near Mono County
Tulare County, CA 148 km (92 mi) SW earthquakes near Tulare County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 52 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
  2. 3.1 51 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
  3. 2.8 51 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
  4. 1.8 50 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
  5. 1.8 51 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
  6. 1.5 62 km W of Beatty, Nevada
  7. 2.1 55 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
  8. 1.5 56 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
  9. 1.8 55 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
  10. 1.5 36km NW of Stovepipe Wells, CA
  11. 2.3 39km ESE of Big Pine, CA
  12. 2.1 27 km SSE of Silver Peak, Nevada
  13. 1.8 20 km S of Goldfield, Nevada
  14. 1.6 28 km E of Big Pine, California
  15. 2.4 60km ENE 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.