QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near McFarland, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in McFarland in the 24 hours to 6:52 am PST (14:52 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 1.7 earthquake was recorded 14 km (8 mi) east-northeast of McFarland, CA, at 8:09 am PST on 10 November 2019 (16:09 UTC), 18 km deep.

USGS: 14km ENE of McFarland, CA

43 km (27 mi) N of Bakersfield, CA · 15 km (10 mi) ESE of Delano, CA

8:09 am PST, Nov 10, 2019 · · 18 km deep · released about 9.6 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kern County 55 kmTulare County 62 kmKings County 75 km
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
8:09 am PST on 10 November 2019 ()
Where
14 km (8 mi) east-northeast of McFarland, CA · earthquakes near McFarland
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kern County, 55 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
New Hope fault, 22 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 2558 days ago

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, 14 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, Earlimart, Terra Bella, Teviston, Wasco.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 9.6 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 99× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 9.6 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 63,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 5.7 11km N of Lamont, CA · 46 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 The 1952 Bakersfield, California Earthquake · 45 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 18km NNE of Lamont, CA · 45 km SE of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 30 km ENE of Bakersfield, California · 45 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.0 5 km S of Springville, California · 45 km NNE 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 35.7378, -119.0980. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kern County, CA 55 km (34 mi) SE earthquakes near Kern County
Tulare County, CA 62 km (38 mi) NNE earthquakes near Tulare County
Kings County, CA 75 km (46 mi) WNW earthquakes near Kings County
Fresno County, CA 124 km (77 mi) NNW earthquakes near Fresno County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 19km E of McFarland, CA
  2. 1.5 8km WSW of Shafter, CA
  3. 3.1 10km SSW of Rosedale, CA
  4. 1.5 12km WNW of Wofford Heights, CA
  5. 2.1 6km SW of Woodville, CA
  6. 1.6 12km WNW of Wofford Heights, CA
  7. 2.0 8km ENE of Oildale, CA
  8. 2.1 6km WSW of Shafter, CA
  9. 1.9 13km E of Porterville, CA
  10. 2.3 7km NNW of Delano, CA
  11. 1.9 12km WNW of Wofford Heights, CA
  12. 1.8 7km NNW of Delano, CA
  13. 1.7 12km WNW of Wofford Heights, CA
  14. 1.6 12km WNW of Wofford Heights, CA
  15. 1.5 7km NE of Porterville, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.