Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Barstow, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Barstow in the 24 hours to 11:54 pm PST (07:54 UTC). The last one was M 1.8, 3 km (2 mi) NNW, at 3:18 pm PDT on 17 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Barstow
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 36 km (23 mi) east of Barstow, CA, at 12:02 am PDT on 23 May 2017 (07:02 UTC), 11 km deep.
USGS: 34 km S of Fort Irwin, California
- When
- 12:02 am PDT on 23 May 2017 ()
- Where
- 36 km (23 mi) east of Barstow, CA · earthquakes near Barstow
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Bernardino County, 42 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Manix fault, under 1 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 3432 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Barstow, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Barstow, 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 5 km (3 mi) from the epicentre. In Barstow, 36 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 8.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.4 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 4.3 on 2016-02-20 — about 10,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.5 The 1947 Manix, California Earthquake · 9 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.8 13km WSW of Ludlow, CA · 43 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.4 21km SW of Ludlow, California · 50 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.3 20km ENE of Barstow, California · 17 km W of this epicentre
- 5.1 46 km E of Barstow, California · 17 km SE 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 34.9532, -116.6283. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Bernardino County, CA | 42 km (26 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near San Bernardino 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.
- 1.6 13km W of Ludlow, CA
- 2.8 18km SSE of Fort Irwin, CA
- 2.3 39km ENE of Lucerne Valley, CA
- 1.5 12km NE of Barstow, CA
- 1.7 6km WSW of Ludlow, CA
- 1.9 19km SSE of Fort Irwin, CA
- 2.8 28km NNW of Barstow, CA
- 1.9 24km W of Ludlow, CA
- 2.3 16km NNE of Lucerne Valley, CA
- 2.2 17km WSW of Ludlow, CA
- 1.9 7km WSW of Ludlow, CA
- 3.0 7km WSW of Ludlow, CA
- 1.6 25km WNW of Ludlow, CA
- 1.6 39km WSW of Ludlow, CA
- 2.8 17km WSW of Ludlow, 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.