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 7:42 am PST (15:42 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 40 km (25 mi) east-southeast of Big Pine, CA, at 4:02 am PDT on 23 March 2020 (11:02 UTC), 7.7 km deep.
USGS: 37 km NE of Independence, California
- When
- 4:02 am PDT on 23 March 2020 ()
- Where
- 40 km (25 mi) east-southeast of Big Pine, CA · earthquakes near Big Pine
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Inyo County, 66 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Hunter Mountain- Saline Valley fault, 24 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 2426 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Big Pine, 40 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 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
- 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.1 46km E of Big Pine, California · 18 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.5 10 km N of Independence, California · 32 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 37.0213, -117.8739. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inyo County, CA | 66 km (41 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| Esmeralda County, NV | 87 km (54 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Tulare County, CA | 120 km (74 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Mono County, CA | 133 km (83 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Mono County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
46 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 57km NNW of Stovepipe Wells, CA
- 1.7 10 km N of Big Pine, California
- 1.8 52 km E of Big Pine, California
- 1.9 47 km ESE of Big Pine, California
- 1.7 59 km WNW of Beatty, Nevada
- 1.7 12km WSW of Deep Springs, CA
- 1.9 14km WSW of Deep Springs, CA
- 1.6 52 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
- 2.1 62km ENE of Big Pine, CA
- 1.8 4km S of Independence, CA
- 2.0 8km NE of Big Pine, CA
- 1.8 51km NW of Stovepipe Wells, CA
- 1.9 14km NE of Big Pine, CA
- 1.8 57 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
- 2.0 34 km ESE 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
- 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.