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Location:
23 km N of Ridgecrest, CA
Period:
10 Jan 2020 21:27:57 - 2 Feb 2020 07:45:01 (22 days 10 hours 17 minutes)
Volcanoes in 100km radius:
None
Earthquakes:
422
37 swarms found nearby.
2013
3 May
1 day 22 hours
37 earthquakes
2015
S20150602.1(29.0km)
1 Jun
1 day 6 hours
36 earthquakes
2019
4 Jul
221 days 12 hours
22493 earthquakes
4 Jul
75 days 9 hours
8149 earthquakes
S20190708.2(23.5km)
7 Jul
4 days 17 hours
70 earthquakes
S20190712.1(21.3km)
11 Jul
16 hours
29 earthquakes
S20190812.1(13.1km)
12 Aug
3 days 6 hours
50 earthquakes
S20190825.1(24.4km)
24 Aug
3 days 7 hours
165 earthquakes
8 Sep
1 day 13 hours
47 earthquakes
S20190910.1(16.8km)
10 Sep
3 days 21 hours
145 earthquakes
1 Oct
4 days 13 hours
127 earthquakes
S20191005.1(25.7km)
5 Oct
3 days 16 hours
147 earthquakes
5 Oct
1 day 18 hours
26 earthquakes
13 Oct
1 day 23 hours
36 earthquakes
15 Oct
2 days 23 hours
108 earthquakes
30 Nov
2 days 16 hours
49 earthquakes
1 Dec
9 days 6 hours
252 earthquakes
13 Dec
22 hours
27 earthquakes
15 Dec
6 days 12 hours
188 earthquakes
22 Dec
10 days 4 hours
196 earthquakes
2020
S20200101.1(29.8km)
1 Jan
7 days 0 hours
130 earthquakes
22 Jan
17 hours
24 earthquakes
7 Feb
1 day 19 hours
44 earthquakes
12 Feb
5 days 22 hours
159 earthquakes
21 Feb
5 days 20 hours
94 earthquakes
S20200322.1(13.7km)
21 Mar
10 days 13 hours
140 earthquakes
14 Apr
7 days 19 hours
130 earthquakes
8 May
3 days 21 hours
69 earthquakes
25 May
1 day 7 hours
31 earthquakes
3 Jun
9 days 16 hours
525 earthquakes
S20200708.3(28.5km)
7 Jul
13 days 9 hours
239 earthquakes
S20200727.1(11.1km)
27 Jul
13 days 20 hours
183 earthquakes
13 Aug
7 days 2 hours
81 earthquakes
21 Sep
5 days 2 hours
99 earthquakes
2021
S20210404.1(25.5km)
3 Apr
11 days 13 hours
124 earthquakes
2022
S20220715.1(13.1km)
14 Jul
4 days 3 hours
55 earthquakes
2023
S20230503.1(28.9km)
2 May
1 day 6 hours
32 earthquakes
AI-generated article — for informational and entertainment purposes only. May contain inaccuracies. Full disclaimerFound an error?

Seismic Analysis of the January-February 2020 Earthquake Swarm Near Ridgecrest, California

The S20200111.1 earthquake swarm was recorded 23 km north of Ridgecrest, California, beginning at 21:27 on 10 January 2020 and concluding at 07:45 on 2 February 2020. Over 538 hours and 17 minutes, the sequence produced 422 events. Examination of the first 100 recorded events reveals predominantly low-magnitude activity, with depths ranging from 1 km to 11 km. Magnitudes spanned from -0.4 to 2.8, the largest being a 2.8 event at 3 km depth on 11 January 2020 at 05:45:28. Most events clustered between 4 km and 9 km depth, indicating shallow crustal faulting typical of the region. The swarm occurred within the Eastern California Shear Zone, a network of strike-slip faults accommodating Pacific-North American plate motion. Ridgecrest lies near the intersection of the Garlock Fault and northwest-trending faults that ruptured during the 2019 Ridgecrest earthquake sequence. That sequence included a magnitude 6.4 foreshock on 4 July 2019 and a magnitude 7.1 mainshock the following day, both of which altered local stress conditions and increased aftershock productivity in the subsequent months. Historical records since 2000 document 21 swarms in the immediate area, with notable clusters in 2019 (18 swarms) and isolated episodes in 2013 and 2015. The 2020 swarm represents the sole event recorded that year in the catalog. Such episodic swarms are common in the Mojave Desert, where fluid migration and aseismic slip can trigger bursts of microseismicity without a clear mainshock-aftershock pattern. Depth distributions in the initial events show a concentration between 3 km and 8 km, consistent with the brittle-ductile transition zone in this tectonically active region. Temporal analysis indicates the highest event rate in the first 48 hours, followed by a gradual decline, a pattern observed in post-2019 aftershock sequences throughout the area.

References

  • United States Geological Survey Earthquake Catalog (earthquake.usgs.gov)
  • USGS Professional Paper on the 2019 Ridgecrest Earthquake Sequence (2020)