May 25, 1980 Earthquake: Mammoth Lakes, California, United States

Name: May 25, 1980 Earthquake: Mammoth Lakes, California, United States
Start: 1980-05-25
Location: Mammoth Lakes, California, United States

May 25, 1980 · M6.1 · $2 million

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck Mammoth Lakes, California, United States on May 25, 1980 at 16:33:44 UTC, 7 km below the surface.

Map

Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.

The earthquake

Date: May 25, 1980
Time: 16:33:44 UTC
Place: Mammoth Lakes, California, United States
Magnitude: 6.1 (Ms)
Focal depth: 7 km (4 mi)
Intensity: 7 on the Modified Mercalli scale
Tsunami: None recorded
Epicenter: 37.600° N, 118.840° W
Country: United States

The toll

Injuries: 7
Damage: $2 million

Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.

Other significant earthquakes nearby

Within 200 km, the deadliest first.

Significant earthquakes of 1980 The 1900s Every quake the USGS located in 1980 Recent earthquakes near here This day in weather history

Sources

Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 4878.