The May 17, 1993 earthquake
M6.1near Big Pine, California
A magnitude 6.1 earthquake 2.2 miles deep, centred in Inyo County. The 54th strongest in California’s record since 1900, and the strongest within 50 miles since a magnitude 6.4 on July 21, 1986. 106 aftershocks of magnitude 2.5 or more followed within 30 days.
Watch the sequence unfoldMagnitude 6.1 · May 17, 1993
How the ground moved
Every recorded earthquake in the sequence, in order, through the month after.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 6.1
- moment magnitude (mw)
- Depth
- 2.2 mi
- 3.6 km below the surface
- Local time
- Monday, May 17, 1993
- 16:20 PDT; 23:20 UTC
- In California’s record
- 54th
- strongest of 97,065 since 1900
USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog, event ci3105173 (“46km E of Big Pine, California”). The USGS event page carries the ShakeMap, felt reports and the official summary.
Aftershocks
Earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more within 20 miles of the epicentre in the 30 days after.
106
Aftershocks in 30 days
4.8
Largest aftershock, May 19, 1993
54
On the first day
0
In the 7 days before
- The search radius is the surface rupture length expected for an earthquake of this magnitude (Wells and Coppersmith, 1994), at least 20 and at most 600 miles, so a great earthquake's sequence is counted along its whole fault.
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
- Mono CountyCA · 21.0 mi
- Nye CountyNV · 36.1 mi
- Esmeralda CountyNV · 36.1 mi
- Fresno CountyCA · 37.4 mi
- Tulare CountyCA · 43.3 mi
Earthquakes around the epicentre
1,053 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
- July 21, 1986M6.4
- May 6, 1910M6.0
- July 20, 1986M5.9
- July 31, 1986M5.8
- July 21, 1986M5.7
- July 21, 1986M5.6
- November 7, 1910M5.5
- January 4, 1912M5.5
- November 23, 1984M5.5
- November 28, 1929M5.5
USGS ANSS Comprehensive Earthquake Catalog. Local time is the time zone of the county nearest the epicentre. Magnitudes are as the catalogue reports them.