QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.5mw

16km E of Oildale, CA

· 13 km deep · released about 2.3 tons of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kern County 12 kmTulare County 92 kmKings County 115 kmVentura County 119 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 3.5 (mw)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
338 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Measured shaking
intensity IV (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Kern County, 12 km ESE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2314 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 338 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 2.3 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 72,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 3,200× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,300× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.5 about 2.3 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 4.9× more

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 35.4062, -118.8450. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Kern County, CA 12 km (8 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Kern County
Tulare County, CA 92 km (57 mi) S of here earthquakes near Tulare County
Kings County, CA 115 km (71 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Kings County
Ventura County, CA 119 km (74 mi) NNE of here earthquakes near Ventura County
Santa Barbara County, CA 146 km (90 mi) NE of here earthquakes near Santa Barbara County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 25km N of Tehachapi, CA
  2. 1.5 23km NE of Oildale, CA
  3. 1.8 7km WSW of Tehachapi, CA
  4. 1.6 24km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
  5. 1.7 17km SE of Bodfish, CA
  6. 2.2 7km NW of Wofford Heights, CA
  7. 2.1 17km SE of Bodfish, CA
  8. 2.6 7km SSW of Lamont, CA
  9. 2.4 17km SE of Bodfish, CA
  10. 2.3 12km SE of Bodfish, CA
  11. 2.6 24km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
  12. 1.6 8km E of Bakersfield, CA
  13. 1.8 18km WNW of Tehachapi, CA
  14. 1.7 17km NW of Tehachapi, CA
  15. 1.8 23km NNW 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.