QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0ml

Earthquake near Kernville, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Kernville in the 24 hours to 9:00 pm PST (05:00 UTC). The last one was M 2.4, 11 km (7 mi) NE, at 9:35 am PDT on 21 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Kernville

This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) north-northeast of Kernville, CA, at 12:08 am PST on 14 November 2019 (08:08 UTC), 3.0 km deep.

USGS: 19km NNE of Kernville, CA

89 km (55 mi) NE of Bakersfield, CA

12:08 am PST, Nov 14, 2019 · · 3.0 km deep · released about 27 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Tulare County 55 kmKern County 72 kmInyo County 110 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
12:08 am PST on 14 November 2019 ()
Where
19 km (12 mi) north-northeast of Kernville, CA · earthquakes near Kernville
Magnitude
M 2.0 (ml)
Depth
3.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Tulare County, 55 km NW
Nearest mapped fault
Kern Canyon fault, 11 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 2555 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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Kernville, 19 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: Wofford Heights, Weldon, Alta Sierra.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 27 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 560,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 390,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 35× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 27 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 4.6 on 2019-07-18 — about 10,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 41 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 40 km ESE of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 7km ESE of Coso Junction, CA · 42 km ENE of this epicentre
  4. 5.1 13km SE of Little Lake, CA · 48 km E of this epicentre
  5. 5.0 5 km S of Springville, California · 50 km WNW 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 35.9012, -118.3217. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Tulare County, CA 55 km (34 mi) NW earthquakes near Tulare County
Kern County, CA 72 km (45 mi) SSW earthquakes near Kern County
Inyo County, CA 110 km (69 mi) NE earthquakes near Inyo County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 6 km ENE of Coso Junction, CA
  2. 2.3 12 km NE of Coso Junction, CA
  3. 2.1 11 km NE of Coso Junction, CA
  4. 2.8 11 km NE of Coso Junction, CA
  5. 1.9 10 km NE of Coso Junction, CA
  6. 1.5 10km NE of Coso Junction, CA
  7. 2.1 10 km NE of Coso Junction, CA
  8. 2.1 9 km NE of Coso Junction, CA
  9. 1.9 11 km NE of Coso Junction, CA
  10. 2.7 11km NE of Coso Junction, CA
  11. 1.8 10 km NE of Coso Junction, CA
  12. 3.0 10km NE of Coso Junction, CA
  13. 1.5 10km ENE of Coso Junction, CA
  14. 1.8 10km SSW of Olancha, CA
  15. 1.9 9km SSW of Olancha, 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.