QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.9ml

16km SSE of Tehachapi, CA

· 7.7 km deep · released about 700 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kern County 50 kmLos Angeles County 91 kmVentura County 101 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 2.9 (ml)
Depth
7.7 km below the surface
Felt
20 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Kern County, 50 km NW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2644 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 20 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 700 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 22,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 15,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 700 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 35.0083, -118.3672. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Kern County, CA 50 km (31 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Kern County
Los Angeles County, CA 91 km (56 mi) N of here earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Ventura County, CA 101 km (63 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Ventura County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 23km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
  2. 1.7 24km SSW of Bodfish, CA
  3. 1.8 24km N of California City, CA
  4. 1.5 23km N of California City, CA
  5. 2.0 19km N of California City, CA
  6. 2.3 17km NNW of Mojave, CA
  7. 1.7 17km NNW of Mojave, CA
  8. 1.9 17km NW of Tehachapi, CA
  9. 2.0 12km WSW of Lake Hughes, CA
  10. 2.2 26km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
  11. 1.6 21km N of Neenach, CA
  12. 1.6 22km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
  13. 1.6 7km S of Mojave, CA
  14. 1.6 18km W of Tehachapi, 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.