Earthquake near Boron, CA

USGS: 9km SSW of Boron, CA

52 km (32 mi) ENE of Lancaster, CA · 121 km (75 mi) NNE of Los Angeles, CA

6:28 am PDT, Oct 1, 2016 · 2016-10-01 13:28 UTC · 6.2 km deep · released about 10 lb of TNT

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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: 6:28 am PDT on 1 October 2016 (2016-10-01 13:28 UTC)
Where: 9 km (5 mi) SSW of Boron, CA · earthquakes near Boron
Magnitude: M 1.7 (ml)
Depth: 6.2 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Los Angeles County, 97 km SSW
Nearest mapped fault: Helendale-South Lockhart fault, 21 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 3651 days ago · we first saw it 3651 days ago

A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 9 km (5 mi) SSW of Boron, CA, at 6:28 am PDT on 1 October 2016 (13:28 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 10 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,500,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 92× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 1.7 about 10 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:

5.7 12km NW of California City, California · 48 km NW of this epicentre Jul 11, 1992

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

Map loads when it scrolls into view

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
Los Angeles County, CA	97 km (60 mi)	SSW	earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Kern County, CA	106 km (66 mi)	WNW	earthquakes near Kern County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1.5 4km NNW of Boron, CA 23:20 UTC
1.5 4km NW of Boron, CA 18:35 UTC
1.5 6km S of Mojave, CA 19:08 UTC
1.5 7km SSW of Mojave, CA 19:00 UTC
1.6 6km NNW of Boron, CA 23:42 UTC
1.9 5km NNW of Boron, CA 23:56 UTC
1.6 5 km NNW of Boron, California 23:27 UTC
1.5 6 km SSW of Mojave, California 19:09 UTC
1.6 4 km NW of Boron, California 23:29 UTC
1.5 6 km SSW of Mojave, California 19:05 UTC
1.6 4 km NNW of Boron, California 23:20 UTC
1.7 5 km NNW of Boron, California 23:30 UTC
1.7 4 km NNW of Boron, California 23:23 UTC
1.6 18 km ESE of Johannesburg, California 08:13 UTC
1.6 5 km NW of Boron, California 23:45 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 02:16 UTC. 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.