QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Lone Pine, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Lone Pine in the 24 hours to 7:36 am PST (15:36 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 16 km (10 mi) SE, at 9:24 pm PDT on 29 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Lone Pine

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 43 km (27 mi) northeast of Lone Pine, CA, at 10:26 am PDT on 23 May 2025 (17:26 UTC), 3.0 km deep.

USGS: 41 km ENE of Independence, California

10:26 am PDT, May 23, 2025 · · 3.0 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Inyo County 49 kmEsmeralda County 98 kmTulare County 118 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
10:26 am PDT on 23 May 2025 ()
Where
43 km (27 mi) northeast of Lone Pine, CA · earthquakes near Lone Pine
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
3.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Inyo County, 49 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
Hunter Mountain- Saline Valley fault, 18 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 510 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Lone Pine, 43 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. 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 2022-01-06 — about 53,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.1 46km E of Big Pine, California · 29 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 10 km N of Independence, California · 39 km W 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 36.9029, -117.7563. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Inyo County, CA 49 km (31 mi) SE earthquakes near Inyo County
Esmeralda County, NV 98 km (61 mi) N earthquakes near Esmeralda County
Tulare County, CA 118 km (74 mi) SW earthquakes near Tulare County
Mono County, CA 150 km (93 mi) NW earthquakes near Mono County
Nye County, NV 165 km (102 mi) NE earthquakes near Nye County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 7 km SSW of Independence, CA
  2. 1.6 6 km WSW of Lone Pine, California
  3. 1.7 11 km ESE of Big Pine, California
  4. 3.6 7 km SE of Deep Springs, CA
  5. 1.6 38 km ENE of Big Pine, California
  6. 1.5 56 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
  7. 1.6 58 km SSW of Goldfield, Nevada
  8. 1.7 51 km WNW of Beatty, Nevada
  9. 1.6 50 km WNW of Beatty, Nevada
  10. 2.5 24 km SE of Big Pine, CA
  11. 1.5 54 km WNW of Beatty, Nevada
  12. 2.3 52 km WNW of Beatty, Nevada
  13. 1.9 62 km NNE of Keeler, California
  14. 1.9 8 km SE of Deep Springs, CA
  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.