Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.9ml
Earthquake near Arvin, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Arvin in the 24 hours to 6:59 am PST (14:59 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 14 km (9 mi) WSW, at 2:35 am PDT on 29 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Arvin
This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 36 km (23 mi) south-southwest of Arvin, CA, at 7:47 am PDT on 21 May 2016 (14:47 UTC), 16 km deep.
USGS: 9km WSW of Grapevine, CA
48 km (30 mi) S of Bakersfield, CA · 115 km (71 mi) NNW of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 7:47 am PDT on 21 May 2016 ()
- Where
- 36 km (23 mi) south-southwest of Arvin, CA · earthquakes near Arvin
- Magnitude
- M 1.9 (ml)
- Depth
- 16 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 54 km NNE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Pleito fault, 5 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 3825 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Arvin, 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Arvin, 36 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: Frazier Park, Pine Mountain Club, Lebec.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 21 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 710,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 500,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 45× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.9 about 21 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 4.1 on 2016-03-12 — about 2,200 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 21 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.5 The 1952 Kern County, California Earthquake · 5 km NNE of this epicentre
- 6.0 Tejon Pass, California · 11 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Bakersfield, California · 47 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.8 13km WNW of Grapevine, CA · 7 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.7 11km N of Lamont, CA · 50 km NNE 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 34.9225, -119.0228. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 54 km (34 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Ventura County, CA | 63 km (39 mi) | S | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 102 km (64 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 107 km (66 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
42 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 16km SE of Arvin, CA
- 2.8 25km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.8 6km WSW of Bakersfield, CA
- 2.4 14km N of Santa Paula, CA
- 1.7 4km S of Frazier Park, CA
- 1.7 13km NNE of Ojai, CA
- 2.2 13km NNE of Ojai, CA
- 1.8 14km N of Santa Paula, CA
- 1.7 20km S of Maricopa, CA
- 1.9 17km ENE of Grapevine, CA
- 1.6 20km SSE of Gorman, CA
- 2.7 10km SE of Gorman, CA
- 1.8 16km NE of Ojai, CA
- 1.7 21km SSW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.6 13km WNW of Castaic, 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.