Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.0ml
Earthquake near Wasco, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Wasco in the 24 hours to 8:12 am PST (16:12 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 95 km (59 mi) SSE, at 3:38 am PDT on 12 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 798 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Wasco
This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) east of Wasco, CA, at 2:55 am PDT on 19 April 2017 (09:55 UTC), 15 km deep.
USGS: 8km E of Wasco, CA
33 km (20 mi) NW of Bakersfield, CA · 20 km (12 mi) S of Delano, CA
- When
- 2:55 am PDT on 19 April 2017 ()
- Where
- 8 km (5 mi) east of Wasco, CA · earthquakes near Wasco
- Magnitude
- M 2.0 (ml)
- Depth
- 15 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 54 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- New Hope fault, 18 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 3467 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Wasco, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Wasco, 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 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 4 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Wasco, 8 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: McFarland, Shafter, Delano, Rosedale, Greenacres, Richgrove.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 29 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 520,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 370,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 33× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.0 about 29 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 4.9 on 2016-02-24 — about 21,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.7 11km N of Lamont, CA · 41 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.5 The 1952 Bakersfield, California Earthquake · 38 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.2 18km NNE of Lamont, CA · 44 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.0 25 km SSW of Posey, California · 41 km E 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 35.5897, -119.2497. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 54 km (34 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Kings County, CA | 74 km (46 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Tulare County, CA | 83 km (51 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 111 km (69 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 137 km (85 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
36 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 8km E of Bakersfield, CA
- 1.8 7km NW of Rosedale, CA
- 1.8 25km WSW of Alpaugh, CA
- 1.6 15km E of Oildale, CA
- 1.7 16km E of Oildale, CA
- 3.5 16km E of Oildale, CA
- 2.1 6km N of Rosedale, CA
- 1.6 18km NE of Maricopa, CA
- 1.9 7km WSW of Shafter, CA
- 1.8 9km WSW of Lamont, CA
- 2.1 16km SW of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.7 10km WNW of Pixley, CA
- 2.0 11km W of Buttonwillow, CA
- 2.3 11km WNW of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.6 15km NNE of Lamont, 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.