M2.8 earthquake 33km ESE of Big Pine, CA
A magnitude 2.8 earthquake struck 33km ESE of Big Pine, CA on Fri, Aug 17, 1973, 12:11 AM PDT (07:11 UTC), 6 km (4 mi) below the surface.
A larger quake followed: M3.7 27 km ENE of Big Creek, California. This one was a foreshock.
Map
Where this earthquake was located, with the others nearby. Select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Magnitude
- 2.8 (Mh), micro
- Magnitude from
- Southern California Seismic Network
- Local time
- UTC
- 1973-08-17 07:11:34 UTC
- Depth
- 6.0 km (3.7 mi), shallow
- Epicenter
- 37.041° N, 117.947° W
- Region
- California
- Tsunami flag
- No
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
Did you feel it?
No one has reported feeling this quake to the USGS.
How well it is located
Reviewed by a seismologist.
- Location uncertainty
- About 3.8 km horizontally, 31.6 km in depth
- Magnitude uncertainty
- ±0.09
- Depth from
- Operator assigned
- Station coverage gap
- 252°, poorly surrounded by stations
- Stations used
- 4
Nearest places
Distance and direction from each place to the epicenter, with its forecast.
Nearby
Within 100 km, magnitude 1.5 and up: 3 in the 60 days after this one and 4 in the 30 days before it.
After
- 3.727 km ENE of Big Creek, California · 19373 days ago · 5 km deep · 93 km away
- 2.533km NE of Dixon Lane-Meadow Creek, CA · 19359 days ago · 6 km deep · 61 km away
- 2.329km E of Bishop, CA · 19358 days ago · 6 km deep · 42 km away
Before
Earthquakes todayCalifornia earthquakesLive radar here
Sources
From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event ci3319425. Read Fri, Oct 2, 2026, 10:26 PM UTC.