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Location:
20km W of Searles Valley, CA
Period:
27 Feb 2020 15:13:41 - 5 Mar 2020 17:46:30 (7 days 2 hours 32 minutes)
Volcanoes in 100km radius:
None
Earthquakes:
113
114 swarms found nearby.
2000
S20000229.1(17.2km)
28 Feb
9 days 21 hours
154 earthquakes
28 Mar
9 days 13 hours
115 earthquakes
S20000911.1(10.8km)
10 Sep
9 days 14 hours
140 earthquakes
S20000921.1(11.6km)
20 Sep
15 days 13 hours
274 earthquakes
2001
7 Apr
1 day 16 hours
29 earthquakes
S20010423.1(12.4km)
23 Apr
8 days 21 hours
256 earthquakes
S20010610.1(11.6km)
9 Jun
4 days 3 hours
51 earthquakes
S20010714.1(12.1km)
14 Jul
67 days 13 hours
5060 earthquakes
2002
S20020721.1(28.1km)
20 Jul
3 days 21 hours
49 earthquakes
S20020907.1(11.9km)
6 Sep
2 days 1 hours
31 earthquakes
2004
24 Feb
1 day 20 hours
36 earthquakes
28 Jun
3 days 22 hours
108 earthquakes
11 Jul
17 days 11 hours
158 earthquakes
6 Aug
8 days 18 hours
101 earthquakes
14 Sep
8 days 20 hours
86 earthquakes
S20040925.1(11.9km)
24 Sep
4 days 9 hours
57 earthquakes
1 Dec
2 days 18 hours
36 earthquakes
2005
25 Sep
1 day 9 hours
41 earthquakes
2006
3 Jan
2 days 16 hours
37 earthquakes
23 Mar
4 days 11 hours
67 earthquakes
S20060713.1(10.1km)
12 Jul
6 days 5 hours
67 earthquakes
S20060813.1(18.5km)
12 Aug
8 days 13 hours
97 earthquakes
23 Aug
8 days 12 hours
89 earthquakes
27 Nov
7 days 11 hours
109 earthquakes
2009
31 Dec
1 day 18 hours
54 earthquakes
2010
13 Jan
11 days 8 hours
443 earthquakes
S20100302.1(13.6km)
1 Mar
5 days 11 hours
44 earthquakes
23 Apr
2 days 15 hours
41 earthquakes
18 Oct
2 days 0 hours
40 earthquakes
23 Oct
7 days 5 hours
92 earthquakes
25 Nov
1 day 13 hours
36 earthquakes
S20101202.1(10.5km)
1 Dec
1 day 12 hours
30 earthquakes
2011
28 Jul
2 days 6 hours
40 earthquakes
2012
S20120106.1(11.6km)
6 Jan
2 days 18 hours
48 earthquakes
S20121016.1(10.6km)
15 Oct
5 days 7 hours
74 earthquakes
23 Oct
6 days 5 hours
80 earthquakes
S20121127.1(14.4km)
26 Nov
24 days 0 hours
802 earthquakes
2013
20 Mar
4 days 15 hours
80 earthquakes
5 Apr
3 days 20 hours
59 earthquakes
S20130611.1(12.0km)
10 Jun
3 days 18 hours
43 earthquakes
11 Aug
2 days 13 hours
64 earthquakes
2014
20 Mar
1 day 19 hours
35 earthquakes
S20140701.1(27.2km)
30 Jun
8 days 23 hours
167 earthquakes
2015
S20150217.1(17.7km)
16 Feb
11 days 1 hours
139 earthquakes
S20150602.1(20.1km)
1 Jun
1 day 6 hours
36 earthquakes
S20150608.1(16.4km)
8 Jun
1 day 13 hours
31 earthquakes
2016
30 Mar
1 day 14 hours
27 earthquakes
S20160813.1(10.2km)
12 Aug
2 days 10 hours
46 earthquakes
20 Aug
2 days 0 hours
37 earthquakes
5 Dec
6 days 9 hours
75 earthquakes
2017
20 May
1 day 16 hours
35 earthquakes
8 Jun
3 days 3 hours
52 earthquakes
2018
29 Nov
2 days 17 hours
51 earthquakes
2019
17 Mar
4 days 6 hours
102 earthquakes
S20190511.1(10.6km)
10 May
5 days 12 hours
90 earthquakes
5 Jul
12 days 23 hours
643 earthquakes
5 Jul
7 days 1 hours
190 earthquakes
S20190712.1(27.3km)
11 Jul
16 hours
29 earthquakes
S20190721.1(14.6km)
20 Jul
9 days 5 hours
474 earthquakes
2 Aug
2 days 8 hours
77 earthquakes
4 Aug
41 days 17 hours
1154 earthquakes
14 Aug
2 days 19 hours
120 earthquakes
S20190819.2(13.8km)
19 Aug
1 day 7 hours
38 earthquakes
20 Aug
3 days 6 hours
383 earthquakes
S20190825.1(24.0km)
24 Aug
3 days 7 hours
165 earthquakes
2 Sep
1 day 14 hours
76 earthquakes
4 Sep
3 days 10 hours
79 earthquakes
14 Sep
25 days 14 hours
387 earthquakes
S20190918.1(13.4km)
17 Sep
14 days 12 hours
471 earthquakes
S20191005.1(22.7km)
5 Oct
3 days 16 hours
147 earthquakes
6 Oct
1 day 16 hours
48 earthquakes
S20191011.1(12.8km)
10 Oct
4 days 18 hours
165 earthquakes
17 Oct
21 days 21 hours
614 earthquakes
S20191108.1(10.3km)
7 Nov
9 days 8 hours
234 earthquakes
S20191116.2(10.0km)
16 Nov
3 days 4 hours
90 earthquakes
S20191119.1(10.3km)
18 Nov
10 days 3 hours
223 earthquakes
S20191201.1(13.8km)
30 Nov
27 days 2 hours
353 earthquakes
S20191211.1(11.2km)
10 Dec
2 days 14 hours
78 earthquakes
14 Dec
1 day 17 hours
43 earthquakes
2020
S20200101.1(18.6km)
1 Jan
7 days 0 hours
130 earthquakes
7 Jan
11 days 11 hours
163 earthquakes
S20200109.2(12.5km)
8 Jan
23 hours
27 earthquakes
S20200212.1(13.2km)
11 Feb
230 days 17 hours
4310 earthquakes
18 Feb
3 days 4 hours
87 earthquakes
S20200307.1(15.7km)
6 Mar
10 days 22 hours
145 earthquakes
S20200309.1(12.0km)
8 Mar
12 days 22 hours
242 earthquakes
S20200324.1(14.7km)
23 Mar
6 days 13 hours
82 earthquakes
S20200403.1(11.6km)
2 Apr
3 days 6 hours
67 earthquakes
22 Apr
2 days 13 hours
45 earthquakes
S20200509.2(12.3km)
8 May
3 days 23 hours
49 earthquakes
S20200521.1(11.5km)
20 May
4 days 3 hours
97 earthquakes
S20200527.1(12.2km)
26 May
3 days 23 hours
82 earthquakes
S20200604.2(25.4km)
3 Jun
5 days 19 hours
148 earthquakes
12 Jun
15 days 8 hours
334 earthquakes
S20200708.3(20.3km)
7 Jul
13 days 9 hours
239 earthquakes
21 Aug
4 days 6 hours
66 earthquakes
S20200827.1(10.5km)
26 Aug
25 days 23 hours
356 earthquakes
S20201003.1(12.9km)
2 Oct
25 days 20 hours
320 earthquakes
9 Oct
3 days 6 hours
59 earthquakes
S20201113.2(16.1km)
12 Nov
13 days 17 hours
181 earthquakes
2021
S20210213.1(18.2km)
12 Feb
1 day 17 hours
29 earthquakes
S20210404.1(22.9km)
3 Apr
11 days 13 hours
124 earthquakes
S20210412.1(25.0km)
11 Apr
2 days 3 hours
33 earthquakes
S20210616.1(10.0km)
15 Jun
4 days 20 hours
83 earthquakes
S20210820.2(10.6km)
19 Aug
19 days 14 hours
212 earthquakes
S20211018.1(28.2km)
17 Oct
1 day 7 hours
27 earthquakes
S20211029.2(12.0km)
29 Oct
3 days 9 hours
48 earthquakes
S20211219.1(15.3km)
18 Dec
13 days 0 hours
143 earthquakes
2022
25 Jan
2 days 8 hours
59 earthquakes
S20220204.1(11.4km)
3 Feb
3 days 0 hours
45 earthquakes
S20220608.1(10.5km)
7 Jun
1 day 20 hours
34 earthquakes
2023
S20230503.1(19.8km)
2 May
1 day 6 hours
32 earthquakes
2024
S20240416.2(17.8km)
15 Apr
2 days 15 hours
51 earthquakes
S20240811.1(10.1km)
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 S20200228.1: Activity near Searles Valley, California

Seismic swarm S20200228.1 was recorded 20 km west of Searles Valley, California. The sequence began at 15:13 on 27 February 2020 and concluded at 17:46 on 5 March 2020, spanning 170 hours and 32 minutes. A total of 113 earthquakes were detected during this period.

The first 100 events exhibited predominantly low magnitudes, ranging from -0.7 to 3.2. Early activity on 27 February consisted of events between magnitude -0.7 and 1.4 at depths of 5–11 km. Magnitudes gradually increased, with a notable 3.1 event occurring at 4 km depth on 29 February at 12:35. The largest event, magnitude 3.2, struck at 4 km depth on 3 March at 00:32. Depths throughout remained shallow, concentrated between 2 km and 11 km, consistent with upper-crustal faulting in the region.

Searles Valley occupies the western Mojave Desert within the eastern California shear zone. This tectonically active area experiences distributed deformation driven by Pacific–North American plate interaction. The local geology features Quaternary sediments overlying crystalline basement rocks, transected by northwest-trending strike-slip faults and northeast-trending normal faults. The nearby Garlock Fault, a major left-lateral structure, and the broader network of faults associated with the 2019 Ridgecrest sequence influence regional seismicity.

Historical records indicate persistent swarm activity. Since 1 January 2000, 84 swarms have been documented in the area. Annual counts show variability, with peaks in 2019 (26 swarms) and elevated numbers in 2004 (7), 2010 (7), and 2016 (4). This pattern reflects ongoing strain accumulation and release along the complex fault system.

The 2020 swarm fits within this established framework of episodic, low-to-moderate magnitude clustering. Most events remained below magnitude 2.0, with only a few exceeding 2.5, underscoring the swarm’s modest energy release compared with mainshock-aftershock sequences.

References

SeismoSight internal swarm catalog S20200228.1
USGS Earthquake Catalog (regional Mojave Desert events)
California Geological Survey fault database