QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1ml

6km W of Kernville, CA

· 4.5 km deep · released about 40 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kern County 51 kmTulare County 58 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
Magnitude
M 2.1 (ml)
Depth
4.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kern County, 51 km SSW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2818 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 40 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 380,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 270,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 24× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 40 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.

Where

Epicentre 35.7622, -118.4918. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Kern County, CA 51 km (32 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Kern County
Tulare County, CA 58 km (36 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Tulare County
Kings County, CA 124 km (77 mi) ESE of here earthquakes near Kings County
Inyo County, CA 132 km (82 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Inyo County
Fresno County, CA 152 km (95 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Fresno County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 31km ESE of Porterville, CA
  2. 1.6 28km NNE of Kernville, CA
  3. 1.6 36km WSW of Olancha, CA
  4. 2.2 26km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
  5. 1.9 8km SW of Little Lake, CA
  6. 2.2 17km SE of Bodfish, CA
  7. 1.6 22km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
  8. 1.8 11km SSE of Bodfish, CA
  9. 1.9 25km SW of Bodfish, CA
  10. 1.7 7km ESE of Lake Isabella, CA
  11. 1.7 11km E of Lake Isabella, CA
  12. 1.6 14km S of Bodfish, CA
  13. 1.5 22km ESE of Lake Isabella, CA
  14. 2.1 22km ESE of Lake Isabella, CA
  15. 1.8 23km WNW of Inyokern, 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

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