Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Big Pine, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Big Pine in the 24 hours to 12:45 pm PST (20:45 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 38 km (24 mi) east-southeast of Big Pine, CA, at 12:48 am PDT on 12 September 2020 (07:48 UTC), 1.8 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.
USGS: 38 km ESE of Big Pine, California
- When
- 12:48 am PDT on 12 September 2020 ()
- Where
- 38 km (24 mi) east-southeast of Big Pine, CA · earthquakes near Big Pine
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 1.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Inyo County, 70 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Deep Springs fault, 23 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2253 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Big Pine, CA
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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, 38 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 7.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 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 57,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.1 46km E of Big Pine, California · 14 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.5 10 km N of Independence, California · 34 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 37.0665, -117.8740. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inyo County, CA | 70 km (43 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| Esmeralda County, NV | 82 km (51 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Tulare County, CA | 123 km (77 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Mono County, CA | 129 km (80 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Mono 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.
- 1.6 54 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
- 1.8 51 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
- 1.7 6km ENE of Big Pine, CA
- 2.1 51 km ENE of Independence, California
- 2.4 6km ENE of Deep Springs, CA
- 1.5 61 km NNE of Keeler, California
- 2.2 6km ENE of Deep Springs, CA
- 2.6 33km NW of Stovepipe Wells, CA
- 1.6 43 km ESE of Big Pine, California
- 1.6 59 km NNE of Keeler, California
- 1.5 34 km ENE of Independence, California
- 3.2 65km NNW of Stovepipe Wells, CA
- 1.8 7km NE of Wilkerson, CA
- 1.6 32 km ESE of Big Pine, California
- 2.3 56km WNW of Beatty, NV
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.