Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Big Pine, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Big Pine in the 24 hours to 3:39 pm PST (23:39 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 1.5 earthquake was recorded 45 km (28 mi) east-southeast of Big Pine, CA, at 4:50 pm PST on 12 December 2023 (00:50 UTC), 7.3 km deep.
USGS: 45 km ESE of Big Pine, California
- When
- 4:50 pm PST on 12 December 2023 ()
- Where
- 45 km (28 mi) east-southeast of Big Pine, CA · earthquakes near Big Pine
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Inyo County, 66 km SSE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Fish Lake Valley fault, 25 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 1066 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 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Big Pine, 45 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 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
- 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
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.8 on 2022-01-06 — about 75,000 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 · 11 km N of this epicentre
- 5.5 10 km N of Independence, California · 41 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 37.0686, -117.7940. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inyo County, CA | 66 km (41 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| Esmeralda County, NV | 80 km (50 mi) | N | earthquakes near Esmeralda County |
| Tulare County, CA | 128 km (80 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Mono County, CA | 134 km (83 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Mono County |
| Nye County, NV | 154 km (96 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Nye County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
54 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.1 15 km N of Independence, CA
- 2.0 64 km WNW of Beatty, Nevada
- 2.3 18 km WSW of Deep Springs, CA
- 2.1 61 km S of Silver Peak, Nevada
- 1.7 64 km WNW of Beatty, Nevada
- 1.7 58 km NNW of Stovepipe Wells, CA
- 1.9 64 km WNW of Beatty, Nevada
- 1.5 64 km WNW of Beatty, Nevada
- 1.6 33 km NE of Independence, California
- 1.8 7 km ESE of Deep Springs, CA
- 1.8 56 km S of Goldfield, Nevada
- 1.6 14 km SSE of Big Pine, California
- 2.8 17 km ENE of Big Pine, CA
- 1.6 59 km NNE of Keeler, California
- 1.6 57 km NNE of Keeler, 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.