Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near Taft, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Taft in the 24 hours to 11:43 am PST (19:43 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 61 km (38 mi) SE, at 3:38 am PDT on 12 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 798 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Taft
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 21 km (13 mi) west of Taft, CA, at 8:44 pm PDT on 15 September 2017 (03:44 UTC), 11 km deep.
USGS: 20km W of Taft, CA
63 km (39 mi) WSW of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 8:44 pm PDT on 15 September 2017 ()
- Where
- 21 km (13 mi) west of Taft, CA · earthquakes near Taft
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Santa Barbara County, 75 km SSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas 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 3304 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Taft, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Taft, 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 Taft, 21 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: Taft Heights, South Taft, Ford City, Maricopa.
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 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 95× 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 since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.
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 35.1412, -119.6820. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 75 km (46 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 75 km (47 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Kern County, CA | 89 km (56 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Ventura County, CA | 100 km (62 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Kings County, CA | 104 km (65 mi) | N | earthquakes near Kings County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
34 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.2 23km SW of Maricopa, CA
- 1.9 10km N of Simmler, CA
- 1.8 10km W of Pine Mountain Club, CA
- 1.5 13km N of Simmler, CA
- 1.8 25km ENE of Maricopa, CA
- 1.6 17km S of Maricopa, CA
- 2.1 16km SW of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.7 24km ENE of Maricopa, CA
- 1.9 14km WNW of Pine Mountain Club, CA
- 1.6 10km E of Taft, CA
- 2.0 15km N of Simmler, CA
- 2.1 21km E of Maricopa, CA
- 2.0 11km W of Buttonwillow, CA
- 2.3 11km WNW of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.6 14km WNW of Pine Mountain Club, 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.