QuakeIndex

quarry blast · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Boron, CA

USGS: 5km NNW of Boron, CA

60 km (37 mi) NE of Lancaster, CA · 132 km (82 mi) NNE of Los Angeles, CA

2:06 pm PST, Feb 3, 2017 · · -0.8 km deep · released about 5.7 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Boron Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kern County 101 kmLos Angeles County 108 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
2:06 pm PST on 3 February 2017 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) NNW of Boron, CA · earthquakes near Boron
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
-0.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kern County, 101 km WNW
Nearest mapped fault
Helendale-South Lockhart fault, 11 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 3523 days ago

A magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) NNW of Boron, CA, at 2:06 pm PST on 3 February 2017 (22:06 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: North Edwards, Edwards Air Force Base, California City.

USGS catalogues this as quarry blast, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.7 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.7 12km NW of California City, California · 40 km WNW 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 35.0417, -117.6795. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kern County, CA 101 km (63 mi) WNW earthquakes near Kern County
Los Angeles County, CA 108 km (67 mi) SSW earthquakes near Los Angeles County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 6km NNW of Boron, CA
  2. 1.6 6km NNW of Boron, CA
  3. 1.8 5km NW of Boron, CA
  4. 2.5 20km ESE of Johannesburg, CA
  5. 1.5 6km SSW of Mojave, CA
  6. 1.5 5km NW of Boron, CA
  7. 1.6 5km NW of Boron, CA
  8. 1.6 5km NNW of Boron, CA
  9. 1.6 5km NW of Boron, CA
  10. 1.7 7km E of Mojave, CA
  11. 1.6 6km NNW of Boron, CA
  12. 2.7 16km W of Johannesburg, CA
  13. 1.5 20km E of Boron, CA
  14. 1.7 6km N of Boron, CA
  15. 3.4 20km E of Boron, 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.