QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4ml

Earthquake near California City, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in California City in the 24 hours to 6:06 am PST (14:06 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 2.4 earthquake was recorded 29 km (18 mi) north-northwest of California City, CA, at 1:21 am PDT on 5 April 2020 (08:21 UTC), 2.0 km deep.

USGS: 29km NNW of California City, CA

86 km (53 mi) E of Bakersfield, CA

1:21 am PDT, Apr 5, 2020 · · 2.0 km deep · released about 100 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near California City Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kern County 58 kmTulare County 114 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
1:21 am PDT on 5 April 2020 ()
Where
29 km (18 mi) north-northwest of California City, CA · earthquakes near California City
Magnitude
M 2.4 (ml)
Depth
2.0 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kern County, 58 km W
Nearest mapped fault
Southern Sierra Nevada 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 1871 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 20 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. In California City, 29 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 100 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 150,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 110,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 9.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 100 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 4.8 on 2019-07-06 — about 4,700 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 14 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 39 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 5.7 12km NW of California City, California · 18 km S of this epicentre
  3. 5.6 19km N of Tehachapi, CA · 35 km WSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 14km NNW of Tehachapi, CA · 39 km WSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 22km N of Tehachapi, CA · 34 km W 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 35.3705, -118.0918. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kern County, CA 58 km (36 mi) W earthquakes near Kern County
Tulare County, CA 114 km (71 mi) NNW earthquakes near Tulare County
Ventura County, CA 147 km (91 mi) SW earthquakes near Ventura County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 7km S of Mojave, CA
  2. 1.5 12km SE of Tehachapi, CA
  3. 1.8 4km E of Johannesburg, CA
  4. 2.6 20km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
  5. 1.6 6km S of Mojave, CA
  6. 1.8 14km W of Mojave, CA
  7. 2.0 12km NE of Tehachapi, CA
  8. 1.9 17km WSW of Johannesburg, CA
  9. 2.0 16km WNW of Johannesburg, CA
  10. 2.7 22km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
  11. 1.8 8km SW of Inyokern, CA
  12. 1.5 9km SW of Inyokern, CA
  13. 1.7 20km N of Tehachapi, CA
  14. 1.6 13km SE of Bodfish, CA
  15. 2.5 29 km NNW 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.