Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Fort Irwin, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Fort Irwin in the 24 hours to 1:40 pm PST (21:40 UTC). The last one was M 4.3, 103 km (64 mi) W, at 9:40 am PDT on 13 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Fort Irwin
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 31 km (19 mi) north of Fort Irwin, CA, at 12:38 am PST on 15 December 2020 (08:38 UTC), 6.1 km deep.
USGS: 30 km N of Fort Irwin, California
- When
- 12:38 am PST on 15 December 2020 ()
- Where
- 31 km (19 mi) north of Fort Irwin, CA · earthquakes near Fort Irwin
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 6.1 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Bernardino County, 86 km SSE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Garlock fault, 7 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 1648 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Fort Irwin, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Fort Irwin, 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Fort Irwin, 31 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 4.2 on 2018-12-05 — about 7,900 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.
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 35.5368, -116.6362. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Bernardino County, CA | 86 km (54 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near San Bernardino County |
| Inyo County, CA | 133 km (83 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Inyo County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
39 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 3.3 27 km S of Tecopa, CA
- 1.8 18 km SSW of Tecopa, California
- 2.8 14 km SSE of Tecopa, California
- 1.7 19 km WSW of Tecopa, California
- 1.6 47 km ENE of Trona, CA
- 2.1 47 km ENE of Trona, CA
- 3.6 48 km ENE of Trona, CA
- 2.4 31 km WSW of Tecopa, CA
- 3.2 14 km S of Fort Irwin, CA
- 2.5 19 km S of Fort Irwin, CA
- 2.4 44 km WSW of Shoshone, CA
- 2.0 34 km NE of Fort Irwin, CA
- 3.0 48 km WSW of Shoshone, CA
- 2.3 11 km SW of Fort Irwin, CA
- 2.7 50 km WSW of Shoshone, 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.