quarry blast · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Boron, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Boron in the 24 hours to 2:37 am PST (10:37 UTC). The last one was M 1.8, 5 km (3 mi) NNW, at 4:15 pm PST on 8 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Boron
No: USGS classifies this as a quarry blast, not an earthquake. A magnitude 1.6 quarry blast was recorded 5 km (3 mi) northwest of Boron, CA, at 4:29 pm PDT on 17 March 2019 (23:29 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 5km NW of Boron, CA
58 km (36 mi) NE of Lancaster, CA · 131 km (81 mi) NNE of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 4:29 pm PDT on 17 March 2019 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) northwest of Boron, CA · earthquakes near Boron
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- -0.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 101 km WNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Helendale-South Lockhart fault, 12 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 2795 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Boron, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Boron, 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Boron, 5 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: Boron 5 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
USGS catalogues this as quarry blast, not an earthquake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.4 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 one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.7 12km NW of California City, California · 40 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 35.0338, -117.6870. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 101 km (63 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 107 km (66 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 25km N of California City, CA
- 1.8 6km N of Boron, CA
- 1.7 25km N of California City, CA
- 2.0 23km W of Johannesburg, CA
- 1.6 22km W of Johannesburg, CA
- 1.6 20km W of Johannesburg, CA
- 2.1 25km W of Johannesburg, CA
- 2.7 19km W of Johannesburg, CA
- 1.8 24km N of California City, CA
- 1.6 26km NNE of California City, CA
- 1.7 25km N of California City, CA
- 1.7 2km W of Boron, CA
- 1.9 20km ESE of Johannesburg, CA
- 2.0 13km WNW of Johannesburg, CA
- 1.5 23km N of California City, 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.