Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near Weldon, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Weldon in the 24 hours to 4:23 am PST (12:23 UTC). The last one was M 3.1, 11 km (7 mi) W, at 2:37 am PDT on 6 October 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 30 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Weldon
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 12 km (7 mi) south-southwest of Weldon, CA, at 12:51 pm PDT on 24 April 2017 (19:51 UTC), 3.5 km deep.
USGS: 9 km SE of Squirrel Mountain Valley, California
68 km (42 mi) ENE of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 12:51 pm PDT on 24 April 2017 ()
- Where
- 12 km (7 mi) south-southwest of Weldon, CA · earthquakes near Weldon
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 3.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 44 km SW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Kern Canyon fault, 15 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 3468 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Weldon, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Weldon, 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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Weldon, 12 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: Lake Isabella, Bodfish, Wofford Heights, Kernville, Alta Sierra.
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 lists 15 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 38 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.7 12km NW of California City, California · 47 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.6 19km N of Tehachapi, CA · 32 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.6 14km NNW of Tehachapi, CA · 38 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.5 22km N of Tehachapi, CA · 29 km SSW 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 35.5680, -118.3327. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 44 km (27 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 84 km (52 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Inyo County, CA | 139 km (86 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Inyo County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
44 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.5 20km S of Bodfish, CA
- 1.5 16km WNW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.8 25km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.8 26km SSW of Bodfish, CA
- 1.6 25km SW of Little Lake, CA
- 1.5 17km SSE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.6 26km NE of Arvin, CA
- 1.9 17km SSE of Bodfish, CA
- 2.2 20km ESE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.5 16km SSE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.6 16km SSE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.6 18km SSE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.8 17km SSE of Bodfish, CA
- 2.2 17km SSE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.6 14km ESE of Lake Isabella, 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.