Earthquake near Tehachapi, CA

A magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 25 km (16 mi) NNW of Tehachapi, CA, at 7:04 am PDT on 3 November 2016 (14:04 UTC). 3 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: Bear Valley Springs, Golden Hills, Arvin, Bodfish, Stallion Springs.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 200 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 75,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 53,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.7× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 200 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 19 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 5.8 Near Bakersfield, California · 22 km W of this epicentre Dec 23, 1905
2. 5.7 11km N of Lamont, CA · 31 km W of this epicentre Jul 29, 1952
3. 5.7 12km NW of California City, California · 47 km ESE of this epicentre Jul 11, 1992
4. 5.6 19km N of Tehachapi, CA · 9 km ESE of this epicentre Jul 25, 1952
5. 5.6 14km NNW of Tehachapi, CA · 11 km SSE of this epicentre Jul 31, 1952

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 35.3383, -118.5592. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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. 1.5 6 km SSW of Mojave, California 19:09 UTC
2. 1.7 9 km SE of Squirrel Mountain Valley, California 09:48 UTC
3. 1.7 9 km N of Keene, California 08:31 UTC
4. 1.6 27 km SSE of Squirrel Mountain Valley, California 20:01 UTC
5. 2.0 1 km NW of Keene, California 07:20 UTC
6. 2.4 1 km NW of Keene, California 07:17 UTC
7. 1.7 9 km SE of Squirrel Mountain Valley, California 19:51 UTC
8. 3.1 14km ESE of Lake Isabella, CA 17:41 UTC
9. 1.9 11km SE of Tehachapi, CA 19:23 UTC
10. 1.7 21km ENE of Arvin, CA 19:06 UTC
11. 2.1 24km NE of Lamont, CA 21:17 UTC
12. 1.6 14km W of Mojave, CA 18:27 UTC
13. 2.2 17km NW of Tehachapi, CA 00:45 UTC
14. 2.6 27km SSW of Bodfish, CA 22:51 UTC
15. 1.9 18km NNW of Grapevine, CA 15:28 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 03:26 UTC. 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.