Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.0ml
Earthquake near Wasco, CA
USGS: 6km SSW of Wasco, CA
37 km (23 mi) NW of Bakersfield, CA · 27 km (17 mi) SSW of Delano, CA
- When
- 5:47 pm PDT on 31 March 2016 ()
- Where
- 6 km (4 mi) SSW of Wasco, CA · earthquakes near Wasco
- Magnitude
- M 3.0 (ml)
- Depth
- 23 km below the surface
- Felt
- 9 reports · strongest reported intensity II
- Nearest
- Kern County, 62 km ESE
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1518 days ago
A magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) SSW of Wasco, CA, at 5:47 pm PDT on 31 March 2016 (00:47 UTC). 9 people have reported feeling it to USGS. This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Shafter, Buttonwillow, McFarland, Rosedale, Delano, Greenacres.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 890 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 380,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 17,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 12,000× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.0 about 890 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 680 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.7 11km N of Lamont, CA · 48 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.5 The 1952 Bakersfield, California Earthquake · 43 km ESE of this epicentre
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 35.5428, -119.3705. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 62 km (39 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Kings County, CA | 71 km (44 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Tulare County, CA | 93 km (58 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 99 km (62 mi) | W | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 127 km (79 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
31 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 9km N of Lamont, CA
- 1.7 5km NW of Lamont, CA
- 2.3 7km E of Oildale, CA
- 1.6 8km W of Buttonwillow, CA
- 2.2 9km N of Oildale, CA
- 1.9 5km ENE of Shafter, CA
- 1.8 10km SW of Pixley, CA
- 1.8 12km W of Rosedale, CA
- 2.0 8km E of Wasco, CA
- 1.9 4km ESE of Delano, CA
- 2.3 7km NNW of Delano, CA
- 1.8 25km E of McFarland, CA
- 1.9 9km W of Pixley, CA
- 2.0 22 km NNW of Lost Hills, California
- 2.0 4km 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.