Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near Tehachapi, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Tehachapi in the 24 hours to 7:09 am PST (15:09 UTC). The last one was M 4.3, 61 km (38 mi) ENE, at 9:40 am PDT on 13 July 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Tehachapi
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 21 km (13 mi) south-southwest of Tehachapi, CA, at 4:20 pm PDT on 15 August 2016 (23:20 UTC), 8.6 km deep.
USGS: 21km SSW of Tehachapi, CA
42 km (26 mi) NW of Lancaster, CA · 104 km (65 mi) N of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 4:20 pm PDT on 15 August 2016 ()
- Where
- 21 km (13 mi) south-southwest of Tehachapi, CA · earthquakes near Tehachapi
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 48 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Garlock fault, 3 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3740 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Tehachapi, CA
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Tehachapi, 21 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Stallion Springs, Golden Hills, Bear Valley Springs.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 12 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 870,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 78× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 12 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 23 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.5 The 1952 Kern County, California Earthquake · 44 km W of this epicentre
- 6.0 Tejon Pass, California · 36 km W of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Bakersfield, California · 46 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.7 12km NW of California City, California · 50 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.6 19km N of Tehachapi, CA · 39 km N 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 34.9545, -118.5135. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 48 km (30 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Ventura County, CA | 87 km (54 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 87 km (54 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
49 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 9km NNE of Castaic, CA
- 1.9 18km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.7 10km NE of Grapevine, CA
- 1.5 8km N of Mojave, CA
- 1.7 17km NW of Tehachapi, CA
- 2.0 17km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.6 3km N of Frazier Park, CA
- 1.6 21km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.6 10km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.5 13km NE of Arvin, CA
- 1.6 8km N of Lancaster, CA
- 1.5 5km SE of Mojave, CA
- 1.7 21km SSW of Bodfish, CA
- 1.7 8km N of Mojave, CA
- 2.8 8km N of Mojave, 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.