QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 2.1ml

51 km ENE of Independence, California

Yes. A magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 51 km ENE of Independence, California, at 5:48 pm PDT on 24 April 2021 (00:48 UTC), 14 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.

· 14 km deep · released about 43 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Inyo County 53 kmEsmeralda County 88 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 2.1 (ml)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Inyo County, 53 km SSE
Nearest mapped fault
Northern Death Valley fault, 21 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 2028 days ago

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. 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 43 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 350,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 250,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 22× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 43 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:

  1. 6.1 46km E of Big Pine, California · 21 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 10 km N of Independence, California · 48 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 36.9912, -117.6758. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Inyo County, CA 53 km (33 mi) SSE earthquakes near Inyo County
Esmeralda County, NV 88 km (54 mi) N earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Tulare County, CA 130 km (81 mi) SW earthquakes near Tulare County
Mono County, CA 148 km (92 mi) NW earthquakes near Mono County
Nye County, NV 153 km (95 mi) NE earthquakes near Nye County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 19km E of Lone Pine, CA
  2. 2.7 51 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
  3. 2.2 California-Nevada border region
  4. 1.6 40km NE of Independence, CA
  5. 1.6 58 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
  6. 2.5 34km ESE of Big Pine, CA
  7. 1.6 48 km ENE of Independence, California
  8. 2.0 58 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
  9. 1.5 59 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
  10. 2.1 57 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
  11. 1.7 45 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
  12. 2.3 51 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
  13. 2.0 58 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
  14. 2.3 58 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
  15. 1.7 39 km ENE 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

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