Note:This page contains AI-generated content for informational and entertainment purposes only. It may contain inaccuracies. Raw event data is from USGS and EMSC. All statistics, lists, and derived information are generated by this site. Full disclaimerFound an error?
Location:
20 km E of Little Lake, CA
Period:
1 Jan 2020 02:18:21 - 8 Jan 2020 02:43:45 (7 days 25 minutes)
Volcanoes in 100km radius:
None
Earthquakes:
130
M 7.0+:
M 7.1; Ridgecrest Earthquake Sequence; (6 Jul 2019) (10km from the swarm center)
109 swarms found nearby.
2000
S20000229.1(23.3km)
28 Feb
9 days 21 hours
154 earthquakes
S20000329.1(28.2km)
28 Mar
9 days 13 hours
115 earthquakes
S20000911.1(29.2km)
10 Sep
9 days 14 hours
140 earthquakes
2001
S20010408.1(25.7km)
7 Apr
1 day 16 hours
29 earthquakes
S20010610.1(29.5km)
9 Jun
4 days 3 hours
51 earthquakes
2004
S20040224.2(24.9km)
24 Feb
1 day 20 hours
36 earthquakes
S20040629.1(24.8km)
28 Jun
3 days 22 hours
108 earthquakes
S20040712.1(28.5km)
11 Jul
17 days 11 hours
158 earthquakes
S20040807.1(27.2km)
6 Aug
8 days 18 hours
101 earthquakes
S20040915.1(26.1km)
14 Sep
8 days 20 hours
86 earthquakes
S20041202.1(25.8km)
1 Dec
2 days 18 hours
36 earthquakes
2005
S20050926.1(22.9km)
25 Sep
1 day 9 hours
41 earthquakes
2006
S20060104.1(21.4km)
3 Jan
2 days 16 hours
37 earthquakes
S20060324.1(21.9km)
23 Mar
4 days 11 hours
67 earthquakes
S20060713.1(28.7km)
12 Jul
6 days 5 hours
67 earthquakes
S20060824.1(21.4km)
23 Aug
8 days 12 hours
89 earthquakes
S20061127.1(19.9km)
27 Nov
7 days 11 hours
109 earthquakes
2009
S20091231.1(17.4km)
31 Dec
1 day 18 hours
54 earthquakes
2010
S20100114.1(25.5km)
13 Jan
11 days 8 hours
443 earthquakes
S20100424.1(25.2km)
23 Apr
2 days 15 hours
41 earthquakes
S20101019.1(14.2km)
18 Oct
2 days 0 hours
40 earthquakes
S20101024.1(17.5km)
23 Oct
7 days 5 hours
92 earthquakes
S20101125.1(22.5km)
25 Nov
1 day 13 hours
36 earthquakes
S20101202.1(12.2km)
1 Dec
1 day 12 hours
30 earthquakes
2011
S20110728.1(12.3km)
28 Jul
2 days 6 hours
40 earthquakes
2012
15 Oct
5 days 7 hours
74 earthquakes
S20121024.1(21.7km)
23 Oct
6 days 5 hours
80 earthquakes
2013
S20130321.1(23.9km)
20 Mar
4 days 15 hours
80 earthquakes
S20130406.1(24.6km)
5 Apr
3 days 20 hours
59 earthquakes
S20130812.1(14.4km)
11 Aug
2 days 13 hours
64 earthquakes
2014
S20140321.1(21.6km)
20 Mar
1 day 19 hours
35 earthquakes
2015
S20150217.1(23.4km)
16 Feb
11 days 1 hours
139 earthquakes
1 Jun
1 day 6 hours
36 earthquakes
2016
S20160331.1(25.5km)
30 Mar
1 day 14 hours
27 earthquakes
S20160813.1(11.3km)
12 Aug
2 days 10 hours
46 earthquakes
S20160821.1(24.9km)
20 Aug
2 days 0 hours
37 earthquakes
S20161206.1(22.9km)
5 Dec
6 days 9 hours
75 earthquakes
2017
S20170521.1(22.8km)
20 May
1 day 16 hours
35 earthquakes
S20170608.1(26.8km)
8 Jun
3 days 3 hours
52 earthquakes
2018
S20181130.1(18.5km)
29 Nov
2 days 17 hours
51 earthquakes
2019
S20190318.1(24.6km)
17 Mar
4 days 6 hours
102 earthquakes
S20190511.1(24.7km)
10 May
5 days 12 hours
90 earthquakes
S20190704.1(25.7km)
4 Jul
221 days 12 hours
22493 earthquakes
S20190705.2(21.9km)
4 Jul
29 days 2 hours
2446 earthquakes
S20190706.1(29.9km)
5 Jul
39 days 7 hours
2694 earthquakes
S20190706.2(12.8km)
5 Jul
12 days 23 hours
643 earthquakes
S20190706.4(29.2km)
5 Jul
12 days 17 hours
712 earthquakes
S20190706.3(11.9km)
5 Jul
7 days 1 hours
190 earthquakes
S20190706.5(28.2km)
6 Jul
8 days 16 hours
302 earthquakes
S20190708.2(18.6km)
7 Jul
4 days 17 hours
70 earthquakes
11 Jul
16 hours
29 earthquakes
S20190803.1(15.2km)
2 Aug
2 days 8 hours
77 earthquakes
S20190804.1(14.2km)
4 Aug
41 days 17 hours
1154 earthquakes
S20190815.1(11.7km)
14 Aug
2 days 19 hours
120 earthquakes
19 Aug
1 day 7 hours
38 earthquakes
S20190821.1(11.8km)
20 Aug
3 days 6 hours
383 earthquakes
24 Aug
3 days 7 hours
165 earthquakes
2 Sep
1 day 14 hours
76 earthquakes
S20190905.2(10.8km)
4 Sep
3 days 10 hours
79 earthquakes
S20190909.2(28.6km)
8 Sep
1 day 13 hours
47 earthquakes
S20190910.1(13.5km)
10 Sep
3 days 21 hours
145 earthquakes
S20190915.1(15.5km)
14 Sep
25 days 14 hours
387 earthquakes
17 Sep
14 days 12 hours
471 earthquakes
S20191002.1(27.0km)
1 Oct
4 days 13 hours
127 earthquakes
5 Oct
3 days 16 hours
147 earthquakes
S20191007.1(11.0km)
6 Oct
1 day 16 hours
48 earthquakes
10 Oct
4 days 18 hours
165 earthquakes
S20191018.2(11.8km)
17 Oct
21 days 21 hours
614 earthquakes
7 Nov
9 days 8 hours
234 earthquakes
S20191116.2(28.6km)
16 Nov
3 days 4 hours
90 earthquakes
18 Nov
10 days 3 hours
223 earthquakes
10 Dec
2 days 14 hours
78 earthquakes
S20191214.1(29.0km)
13 Dec
22 hours
27 earthquakes
14 Dec
1 day 17 hours
43 earthquakes
2020
S20200107.2(28.3km)
7 Jan
11 days 11 hours
163 earthquakes
8 Jan
23 hours
27 earthquakes
S20200111.1(29.8km)
10 Jan
22 days 10 hours
422 earthquakes
S20200208.1(21.9km)
7 Feb
1 day 19 hours
44 earthquakes
11 Feb
230 days 17 hours
4310 earthquakes
S20200213.1(25.0km)
12 Feb
5 days 22 hours
159 earthquakes
18 Feb
3 days 4 hours
87 earthquakes
S20200228.1(18.6km)
27 Feb
7 days 2 hours
113 earthquakes
8 Mar
12 days 22 hours
242 earthquakes
S20200322.1(16.4km)
21 Mar
10 days 13 hours
140 earthquakes
S20200323.1(26.6km)
23 Mar
4 days 2 hours
52 earthquakes
2 Apr
3 days 6 hours
67 earthquakes
S20200423.1(12.5km)
22 Apr
2 days 13 hours
45 earthquakes
20 May
4 days 3 hours
97 earthquakes
S20200526.1(28.8km)
25 May
1 day 7 hours
31 earthquakes
26 May
3 days 23 hours
82 earthquakes
S20200604.1(27.3km)
3 Jun
9 days 16 hours
525 earthquakes
S20200613.1(12.1km)
12 Jun
15 days 8 hours
334 earthquakes
7 Jul
13 days 9 hours
239 earthquakes
S20200727.1(18.7km)
27 Jul
13 days 20 hours
183 earthquakes
21 Aug
4 days 6 hours
66 earthquakes
26 Aug
25 days 23 hours
356 earthquakes
S20200921.1(28.2km)
21 Sep
5 days 2 hours
99 earthquakes
2 Oct
25 days 20 hours
320 earthquakes
S20201010.1(10.2km)
9 Oct
3 days 6 hours
59 earthquakes
12 Nov
13 days 17 hours
181 earthquakes
2021
3 Apr
11 days 13 hours
124 earthquakes
S20210616.1(28.6km)
15 Jun
4 days 20 hours
83 earthquakes
19 Aug
19 days 14 hours
212 earthquakes
2022
25 Jan
2 days 8 hours
59 earthquakes
S20220204.1(15.2km)
3 Feb
3 days 0 hours
45 earthquakes
7 Jun
1 day 20 hours
34 earthquakes
S20220715.1(18.4km)
14 Jul
4 days 3 hours
55 earthquakes
2023
2 May
1 day 6 hours
32 earthquakes
2024
S20240811.1(11.2km)
10 Aug
5 days 16 hours
78 earthquakes
AI-generated article — for informational and entertainment purposes only. May contain inaccuracies. Full disclaimerFound an error?

Seismic Swarm S20200101.1 Near Little Lake, California

A seismic swarm designated S20200101.1 occurred east of Little Lake in Kern County, California, from 02:18 UTC on 1 January 2020 to 02:43 UTC on 8 January 2020. Over 168 hours and 25 minutes, 130 earthquakes were recorded. The swarm was centered approximately 20 km east of Little Lake, an area within the seismically active Eastern California Shear Zone.

Analysis of the first 100 events reveals predominantly low-magnitude activity. Magnitudes ranged from -0.3 to 3.1, with the majority below 1.5. The largest event, magnitude 3.1, occurred on 3 January at a depth of 5 km. Depths for these events clustered between 1 km and 11 km, averaging near 6 km. Temporal distribution showed the highest frequency on 1–3 January, with events occurring in rapid succession before gradually declining. Most events remained below magnitude 1.0, consistent with typical swarm behavior rather than a mainshock-aftershock sequence.

The region around Little Lake lies in the Mojave Desert portion of the Eastern California Shear Zone, a zone of distributed right-lateral strike-slip faulting that accommodates a significant fraction of Pacific–North American plate motion. Active structures include the Little Lake Fault and segments linked to the Garlock Fault system. This tectonic setting produces frequent small earthquakes and occasional larger events.

Historical records since 2000 indicate 74 swarms in the broader area, with notable increases in 2019 (34 swarms). The 2019 activity followed the Ridgecrest earthquake sequence, including a magnitude 7.1 mainshock on 6 July 2019 located about 10 km from the 2020 swarm center. Post-2019 elevated seismicity suggests lingering stress adjustments along nearby faults.

The January 2020 swarm fits the pattern of low-magnitude, shallow crustal activity common in this shear zone. Event depths indicate rupture within the upper seismogenic crust, where brittle failure predominates. No damage or felt reports were associated with these events, reflecting their modest energy release.

References

  • USGS Earthquake Catalog (queried for regional seismicity 2000–2020)
  • Southern California Earthquake Data Center (swarm statistics and fault mapping)
  • USGS Earthquake Hazards Program reports on the 2019 Ridgecrest sequence