Light mag. 3.3 earthquake - Inyo County, 25 mi northeast of Ridgecrest, Kern County, California, USA, on Sunday, 17 Jan 2021 11:29 pm (GMT -8) -
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Light magnitude 3.3 earthquake at 2 km depth
18 Jan 07:32 UTC: First to report: EMSC after 3 minutes.
18 Jan 07:32: Now using data updates from USGS
18 Jan 07:32: Now using data updates from USGS
Update Mon, 18 Jan 2021, 07:36
Small 3.3 quake hits near Ridgecrest, Kern County, California, United States3.3 quake 17 Jan 11:29 pm (GMT -8)
Just 6 minutes ago, a 3.3-magnitude earthquake struck near Ridgecrest, Kern County, California, USA. The tremor was recorded late at night on Sunday 17 January 2021 at 11:29 pm local time, at a very shallow depth of 1.1 miles below the surface.
The event was filed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the first seismological agency to report it.
A second report was later issued by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), which listed it as a magnitude 3.3 earthquake as well.
Towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Searles Valley (pop. 1,700) located 13 miles from the epicenter, and Ridgecrest (pop. 28,800) 25 miles away. In China Lake Acres (pop. 1,900, 27 miles away), and Inyokern (pop. 1,100, 28 miles away), the quake was probably not felt.
The event was filed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the first seismological agency to report it.
A second report was later issued by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), which listed it as a magnitude 3.3 earthquake as well.
Towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Searles Valley (pop. 1,700) located 13 miles from the epicenter, and Ridgecrest (pop. 28,800) 25 miles away. In China Lake Acres (pop. 1,900, 27 miles away), and Inyokern (pop. 1,100, 28 miles away), the quake was probably not felt.
Earthquake data:
Date & time: 18 Jan 2021 07:29:46 UTC -
Local time at epicenter: Sunday, 17 Jan 2021 11:29 pm (GMT -8)
Magnitude: 3.3
Depth: 1.8 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 35.946°N / 117.4655°W

Nearest volcano: Coso (33 km / 21 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
21 km (13 mi) NNW of Searles Valley (pop: 1,740) --> See nearby quakes!
40 km (25 mi) NNE of Ridgecrest (pop: 28,800) --> See nearby quakes!
140 km (87 mi) E of Porterville (pop: 56,100) --> See nearby quakes!
152 km (94 mi) NNE of Lancaster (pop: 161,100) --> See nearby quakes!
154 km (96 mi) ENE of Bakersfield (pop: 373,600) --> See nearby quakes!
158 km (98 mi) N of Victorville (pop: 122,200) --> See nearby quakes!
163 km (101 mi) NNE of Palmdale (pop: 158,400) --> See nearby quakes!
170 km (105 mi) ESE of Visalia (pop: 130,100) --> See nearby quakes!
170 km (105 mi) N of Hesperia (pop: 93,300) --> See nearby quakes!
462 km (287 mi) SE of Sacramento (pop: 490,700) --> See nearby quakes!
Weather at epicenter at time of quake:
Clear Sky
7.3°C (45 F), humidity: 38%, wind: 2 m/s (4 kts) from N
Primary data source: USGS (United States Geological Survey)Clear Sky

Estimated released energy: 5.6 x 109 joules (1.56 megawatt hours, equivalent to 1.34 tons of TNT) More info
Data for the same earthquake reported by different agencies
Info: The more agencies report about the same quake and post similar data, the more confidence you can have in the data. It takes normally up to a few hours until earthquake parameters are calculated with near-optimum precision.
Magnitude | Depth | Location | Source |
M 3.3 | 1.8 km | 21km NNW of Searles Valley, CA, USA | USGS |
M 3.1 | 12 km | CENTRAL CALIFORNIA, USA | EMSC |
User reports for this quake (5)
User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
223.2 km SSW of epicenter [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II)
222.6 km SSW of epicenter [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II)
417.3 km NW of epicenter [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II)
44.2 km SW of epicenter [Map] / Weak shaking (MMI III) (reported through our app)
Porterville Ca / Light shaking (MMI IV) / vertical swinging (up and down) / 10-15 s
Earlier earthquakes in the same area
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