Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.6ml
Earthquake near Porterville, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Porterville in the 24 hours to 11:34 am PST (19:34 UTC). The last one was M 1.6, 9 km (6 mi) SE, at 3:02 pm PDT on 22 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Porterville
This page: a magnitude 3.6 earthquake was recorded 29 km (18 mi) east-northeast of Porterville, CA, at 6:45 pm PDT on 26 March 2017 (01:45 UTC), 11 km deep. 86 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 29km ENE of Porterville, CA
30 km (19 mi) ENE of Porterville, CA · 118 km (73 mi) SE of Fresno, CA
- When
- 6:45 pm PDT on 26 March 2017 ()
- Where
- 29 km (18 mi) east-northeast of Porterville, CA · earthquakes near Porterville
- Magnitude
- M 3.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- 86 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Measured shaking
- intensity V (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Tulare County, 9 km NW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3436 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Porterville, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Porterville, CA. No account or email needed.
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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 66 km (41 mi) from the epicentre. In Porterville, 29 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: East Porterville.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 3.3 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 51,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,300× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.6 about 3.3 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 6.9× more
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:
- 5.0 5 km S of Springville, California · 14 km SW 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 36.1658, -118.7230. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tulare County, CA | 9 km (5 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Kern County, CA | 91 km (57 mi) | S | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Kings County, CA | 99 km (61 mi) | W | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Fresno County, CA | 106 km (66 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Fresno County |
| Inyo County, CA | 126 km (78 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| Madera County, CA | 148 km (92 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Madera County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
53 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 19km W of Olancha, CA
- 1.5 8km NNW of Kernville, CA
- 1.7 13km SE of Woodlake, CA
- 1.7 32km NNE of Kernville, CA
- 1.5 27km W of Olancha, CA
- 1.8 30km W of Olancha, CA
- 1.6 16km NNE of Kernville, CA
- 1.9 8km NNW of Kernville, CA
- 2.1 6km W of Kernville, CA
- 1.5 20 km W of Cartago, California
- 1.6 16km NNE of Kernville, CA
- 1.6 27km W of Olancha, CA
- 2.2 26km W of Olancha, CA
- 2.2 27km W of Olancha, CA
- 2.0 16km WNW of Kernville, 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.