The October 18, 1961 earthquake
M5.1near Little Lake, CA
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake 3.9 miles deep, centred in Inyo County. The 376th strongest in California’s record since 1900, and the strongest within 50 miles since a magnitude 5.2 on March 18, 1946.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 5.1
- local magnitude (ml)
- Depth
- 3.9 mi
- 6.3 km below the surface
- Local time
- Wednesday, October 18, 1961
- 21:09 PST; 05:09 UTC on Oct 19, 1961
- In California’s record
- 376th
- strongest of 97,065 since 1900
USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, event ci3344648 (“13km SE of Little Lake, CA”). The USGS event page carries the ShakeMap, felt reports and the official summary.
Counties and cities within 50 miles
Distance from the epicentre to each county boundary (zero when inside) and to each city centre.
Counties
- Inyo CountyCA · inside
- Kern CountyCA · 8.6 mi
- San Bernardino CountyCA · 10.1 mi
- Tulare CountyCA · 10.4 mi
Cities, largest first
- RidgecrestCA · 17.9 mi
- California CityCA · 49.8 mi
Earthquakes around the epicentre
2,512 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or more within 50 miles of this epicentre since 1973.
Earlier earthquakes of magnitude 5 or more within 50 miles, strongest first
- March 15, 1946M6.3
- November 4, 1908M6.0
- November 10, 1916M5.9
- March 15, 1946M5.4
- March 15, 1946M5.4
- March 18, 1946M5.2
- March 15, 1946M5.2
- January 28, 1961M5.0
- March 15, 1946M5.0
USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog. Local time is the time zone of the county nearest the epicentre. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them.