Earthquake near Barstow, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Barstow in the 24 hours to 8:21 am PST (16:21 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 44 km (28 mi) east of Barstow, CA, at 2:17 pm PST on 1 December 2017 (22:17 UTC), 8.0 km deep.

USGS: 38km WNW of Ludlow, CA

2:17 pm PST, Dec 1, 2017 · 2017-12-01 22:17 UTC · 8.0 km deep · released about 8.7 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Barstow Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area

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: 2:17 pm PST on 1 December 2017 (2017-12-01 22:17 UTC)
Where: 44 km (28 mi) east of Barstow, CA · earthquakes near Barstow
Magnitude: M 1.6 (ml)
Depth: 8.0 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: San Bernardino County, 33 km E
Nearest mapped fault: Manix fault, 12 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 3268 days ago · we first saw it 3268 days ago

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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Barstow, 44 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 8.7 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 1,700,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× 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 8.7 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 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

7.1 The 1999 Hector Mine, California Earthquake · 39 km SE of this epicentre Oct 16, 1999
6.5 The 1947 Manix, California Earthquake · 12 km N of this epicentre Apr 10, 1947
5.8 13km WSW of Ludlow, CA · 31 km SE of this epicentre Oct 16, 1999
5.4 21km SW of Ludlow, California · 38 km SSE of this epicentre Jul 5, 1992
5.3 38km SW of Ludlow, CA · 40 km S of this epicentre Jun 1, 1975

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
San Bernardino County, CA	33 km (20 mi)	E	earthquakes near San Bernardino County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 16:21 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.