Walker Lane Belt
Nevada / California, USA · transtensional · 10448.2 km of mapped active fault in 127 traces
background as of 7 November 2026.
consistent with baseline
| Window | the last 30.0 days |
|---|---|
| Earthquakes counted | 0 at M4.5 or above |
| Expected in that window | 0.38 |
What this system normally does
From 1995 to 2025 the catalogue holds 138 earthquakes of M4.5 or larger attributable to this system: about 4.60 a year. That figure is what "elevated" on this page is measured against.
The fault itself
| Mapped length | 10448.2 km |
|---|---|
| Traces | 127 |
| Tectonic setting | transtensional |
| Slip types | Normal, Dextral, Sinistral |
| Depth attributed to it | down to 50.0 km |
| Extent | 34.79 to 40.99 latitude, -120.66 to -116.45 longitude |
Recorded history
NOAA's hazard records hold 16 significant earthquakes attributed to this system since 1857.
The deadliest was the 26 March 1872 magnitude 7.8 earthquake (California: Owens Valley), which killed 27 people.
The strongest earthquake on record here was magnitude 7.9, on 9 January 1857 (California: San Luis Obispo).
The most recent entry is the 6 July 2019 magnitude 7.1 earthquake (California: Ridgecrest).
Across the entries that record a death toll, 44 people died.
| Date | What | Where | Toll |
|---|---|---|---|
| 26 March 1872 | magnitude 7.8 earthquake | California: Owens Valley | 27 dead, 52 homes destroyed, damage under $1 million |
| 21 July 1952 | magnitude 7.7 earthquake | California: Kern County | 12 dead, $60 million damage |
| 9 January 1857 | magnitude 7.9 earthquake | California: San Luis Obispo | 2 dead, damage $5 to 25 million |
| 22 August 1952 | magnitude 5.8 earthquake | California: Kern County | 2 dead, 90 homes destroyed, $10 million damage |
| 4 July 2019 | magnitude 6.4 earthquake | California: Ridgecrest; Nevada | 1 dead, $50 million damage |
| 3 October 1915 | magnitude 7.6 earthquake | Nevada: Pleasant Valley | damage under $1 million |
| 20 December 1932 | magnitude 7.2 earthquake | Nevada: Cedar Mountain | - |
| 6 July 2019 | magnitude 7.1 earthquake | California: Ridgecrest | 101 homes destroyed, $5,300 million damage |
| 16 December 1954 | magnitude 7.0 earthquake | Nevada: Dixie Valley | - |
| 23 August 1954 | magnitude 6.8 earthquake | Nevada: Stillwater Range | - |
| 6 July 1954 | magnitude 6.8 earthquake | Nevada: Fallon | damage $1 to 5 million |
| 10 April 1947 | magnitude 6.4 earthquake | California | damage $1 to 5 million |
| 21 July 1986 | magnitude 6.2 earthquake | California-nevada: Chalfant Valley | $1 million damage |
| 2 May 1983 | magnitude 6.2 earthquake | California: Central, Coalinga | 500 homes destroyed, $31 million damage |
| 25 May 1980 | magnitude 6.1 earthquake | California: Mammoth Lakes | $2 million damage |
| 26 April 2008 | magnitude 5.0 earthquake | Nevada: Fallon | damage under $1 million |
A dash means NOAA recorded no number, not that nobody died. Older entries are fewer because fewer were written down, not because less happened.
Recorded history: NOAA NCEI hazard databases, public domain, retrieved 2026-10-22.
Who to listen to if you live here
Ready.gov (FEMA) is the agency that tells people on this system what to do. https://www.ready.gov/earthquakes (in English)
Where these numbers come from
Fault geometry, length and segment counts: GEM Global Active Faults Database (GEM GAF-DB), GEM Foundation, https://github.com/GEMScienceTools/gem-global-active-faults Licence: CC-BY-SA-4.0. Figures derived from it here are offered under the same licence. Earthquake counts, magnitudes and depths: United States Geological Survey, public domain. The activity judgement is ours, computed from those two inputs, and is not a statement by either agency.