Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.8ml
Earthquake near McFarland, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in McFarland in the 24 hours to 10:39 am PST (18:39 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 2.8 earthquake was recorded 7 km (4 mi) west-northwest of McFarland, CA, at 7:22 pm PST on 5 February 2018 (03:22 UTC), 18 km deep. 6 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 7km WNW of McFarland, CA
7 km (4 mi) SSW of Delano, CA · 46 km (29 mi) NNW of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 7:22 pm PST on 5 February 2018 ()
- Where
- 7 km (4 mi) west-northwest of McFarland, CA · earthquakes near McFarland
- Magnitude
- M 2.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 18 km below the surface
- Felt
- 6 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Kings County, 62 km NW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3200 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 19 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. In McFarland, 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.
Likely felt in: Wasco 14 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 420 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 36,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 26,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.3× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.8 about 420 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 1,500 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.0 25 km SSW of Posey, California · 46 km ESE 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 35.7100, -119.2938. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kings County, CA | 62 km (38 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Kern County, CA | 65 km (40 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 74 km (46 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 110 km (69 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Fresno County, CA | 121 km (75 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Fresno County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
46 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 3.7 6km SE of Oildale, CA
- 1.5 4km NNW of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.6 28km WNW of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.7 28km WNW of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.9 29km WNW of Buttonwillow, CA
- 2.4 4km WSW of McFarland, CA
- 1.9 24km NW of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.7 31 km W of Wasco, CA
- 2.2 6km WSW of Shafter, CA
- 3.2 2km NNE of Oildale, CA
- 1.8 9km W of Delano, CA
- 1.9 6km WSW of Shafter, CA
- 2.4 7km WSW of Shafter, CA
- 1.8 25km W of Alpaugh, CA
- 2.7 6km WSW of Shafter, 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.