QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near California City, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in California City in the 24 hours to 6:56 pm PST (02:56 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 26 km (16 mi) NE, at 1:44 pm PDT on 23 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near California City

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 25 km (16 mi) north-northeast of California City, CA, at 9:17 pm PDT on 4 September 2019 (04:17 UTC), 2.2 km deep.

USGS: 24km W of Johannesburg, CA

9:17 pm PDT, Sep 4, 2019 · · 2.2 km deep · released about 10 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near California City Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kern County 76 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
9:17 pm PDT on 4 September 2019 ()
Where
25 km (16 mi) north-northeast of California City, CA · earthquakes near California City
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
2.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kern County, 76 km W
Nearest mapped fault
Garlock fault, 3 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 2618 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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In California City, 25 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 10 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 95× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 10 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 4.9 on 2019-07-12 — about 68,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 41 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.7 12km NW of California City, California · 21 km SW of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 43 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 4km N of Inyokern, CA · 38 km N of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 8km NE of Inyokern, CA · 41 km NNE 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 35.3387, -117.8932. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kern County, CA 76 km (47 mi) W earthquakes near Kern County
Tulare County, CA 127 km (79 mi) NW earthquakes near Tulare County
Ventura County, CA 157 km (98 mi) SW earthquakes near Ventura County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 14km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
  2. 1.6 30km NNW of California City, CA
  3. 1.5 6km NNW of Boron, CA
  4. 1.6 9km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
  5. 1.8 9km E of Ridgecrest, CA
  6. 2.1 15km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
  7. 1.8 14km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
  8. 3.0 13km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
  9. 2.4 19km N of California City, CA
  10. 1.6 17km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
  11. 2.2 10km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
  12. 1.8 13km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
  13. 1.9 8km ESE of Ridgecrest, CA
  14. 2.0 12km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
  15. 2.0 14km ENE of Ridgecrest, 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.