Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near McFarland, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in McFarland in the 24 hours to 5:53 pm PST (01:53 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 100 km (62 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 McFarland
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 25 km (16 mi) east of McFarland, CA, at 2:22 am PST on 14 December 2016 (10:22 UTC), 14 km deep.
USGS: 25km E of McFarland, CA
39 km (24 mi) NNE of Bakersfield, CA · 29 km (18 mi) ESE of Delano, CA
- When
- 2:22 am PST on 14 December 2016 ()
- Where
- 25 km (16 mi) east of McFarland, CA · earthquakes near McFarland
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 14 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 43 km SSE
- Nearest mapped fault
- New Hope fault, 20 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 3564 days ago
Earthquake alerts for McFarland, 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 McFarland, 25 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: Richgrove, Delano.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 14 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 790,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 70× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 14 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 45,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.8 Near Bakersfield, California · 46 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.7 11km N of Lamont, CA · 38 km S of this epicentre
- 5.5 The 1952 Bakersfield, California Earthquake · 38 km S of this epicentre
- 5.4 25km SSW of Bodfish, CA · 50 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.2 18km NNE of Lamont, CA · 34 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 35.6930, -118.9508. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 43 km (27 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 62 km (38 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Kings County, CA | 89 km (55 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Fresno County, CA | 135 km (84 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Fresno County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
20 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 9km N of Lamont, CA
- 1.8 13km NE of Lamont, CA
- 1.6 5km N of Kernville, CA
- 1.7 5km NW of Lamont, CA
- 2.3 7km E of Oildale, CA
- 1.6 26km NE of Arvin, CA
- 2.2 9km N of Oildale, CA
- 1.9 5km ENE of Shafter, CA
- 1.5 5km WSW of Bodfish, CA
- 1.8 10km SW of Pixley, CA
- 1.8 12km W of Rosedale, CA
- 1.6 3km NW of Wofford Heights, CA
- 2.0 8km E of Wasco, CA
- 2.1 24km NE of Lamont, CA
- 2.6 27km 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.