Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.3ml
Earthquake near Oildale, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Oildale in the 24 hours to 6:29 am PST (14:29 UTC). The last one was M 4.3, 110 km (68 mi) E, at 9:40 am PDT on 13 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Oildale
This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 7 km (5 mi) east of Oildale, CA, at 2:09 pm PDT on 11 September 2017 (21:09 UTC), 21 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 7km E of Oildale, CA
12 km (8 mi) NE of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 2:09 pm PDT on 11 September 2017 ()
- Where
- 7 km (5 mi) east of Oildale, CA · earthquakes near Oildale
- Magnitude
- M 2.3 (ml)
- Depth
- 21 km below the surface
- Felt
- 2 reports · strongest reported intensity II
- Nearest
- Kern County, 21 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Kern Front fault, 9 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 1558 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Oildale, CA
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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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Oildale, 7 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: Bakersfield, Greenacres, Lamont, Rosedale, Weedpatch, Arvin.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 82 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 180,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 12× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.3 about 82 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 7,400 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 21 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.8 Near Bakersfield, California · 19 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.7 11km N of Lamont, CA · 9 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.6 19km N of Tehachapi, CA · 45 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.6 14km NNW of Tehachapi, CA · 45 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.5 6km SSE of Arvin, CA · 32 km SSE 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 35.4278, -118.9402. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 21 km (13 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 90 km (56 mi) | N | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Kings County, CA | 107 km (66 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Ventura County, CA | 120 km (75 mi) | S | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 141 km (87 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
51 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.5 23km NW of Tehachapi, CA
- 2.2 15km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.7 20km S of Bodfish, CA
- 2.2 23km NW of Tehachapi, CA
- 2.2 23km NW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.8 10km SSW of Bakersfield, CA
- 2.2 15km SSW of Rosedale, CA
- 2.2 17km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.5 14km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 2.0 15km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.6 9km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.9 15km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 3.8 15km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.7 5km SW of Bodfish, CA
- 3.7 22km SSW of Bodfish, 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.