QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Alpaugh, CA

USGS: 8km S of Alpaugh, CA

66 km (41 mi) NW of Bakersfield, CA · 21 km (13 mi) WNW of Delano, CA

10:30 pm PST, Mar 4, 2016 · · 5.7 km deep · released about 8.7 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Alpaugh Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kings County 41 kmTulare County 78 kmKern County 86 kmSan Luis Obispo County 99 kmFresno County 106 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
10:30 pm PST on 4 March 2016 ()
Where
8 km (5 mi) S of Alpaugh, CA · earthquakes near Alpaugh
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
5.7 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kings County, 41 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3838 days ago

A magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) S of Alpaugh, CA, at 10:30 pm PST on 4 March 2016 (06:30 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Earlimart, Delano, Teviston, Pixley, McFarland, Wasco.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 8.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.7 lb of TNT

Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.9 on 2016-02-24 — about 70,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.

Where

Epicentre 35.8188, -119.4873. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kings County, CA 41 km (25 mi) NW earthquakes near Kings County
Tulare County, CA 78 km (49 mi) NE earthquakes near Tulare County
Kern County, CA 86 km (54 mi) SE earthquakes near Kern County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 99 km (62 mi) WSW earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Fresno County, CA 106 km (66 mi) N earthquakes near Fresno County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

52 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.6 25 km WNW of Lost Hills, California
  2. 1.8 10km SW of Pixley, CA
  3. 1.9 23 km SSE of Kettleman City, California
  4. 2.0 21 km SSE of Kettleman City, California
  5. 2.0 24 km SE of Kettleman City, California
  6. 2.0 8km E of Wasco, CA
  7. 1.6 17 km S of Kettleman City, California
  8. 1.6 20 km S of Kettleman City, California
  9. 1.9 4km ESE of Delano, CA
  10. 1.6 14 km SSW of Kettleman City, California
  11. 1.9 19 km SW of Corcoran, California
  12. 1.5 13 km SSW of Kettleman City, California
  13. 1.8 12 km SSW of Kettleman City, California
  14. 2.2 13 km E of Kettleman City, California
  15. 2.3 7km NNW of Delano, CA

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.