QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5ml

Earthquake near Maricopa, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Maricopa in the 24 hours to 3:49 am PST (11:49 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 51 km (32 mi) ESE, at 3:38 am PDT on 12 July 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 798 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Maricopa

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) south-southwest of Maricopa, CA, at 3:21 pm PST on 1 December 2019 (23:21 UTC), 13 km deep.

USGS: 10km SSW of Maricopa, CA

56 km (35 mi) SW of Bakersfield, CA · 141 km (88 mi) NW of Los Angeles, CA

3:21 pm PST, Dec 1, 2019 · · 13 km deep · released about 180 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Barbara County 73 kmVentura County 73 kmKern County 77 kmSan Luis Obispo County 103 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
3:21 pm PST on 1 December 2019 ()
Where
10 km (6 mi) south-southwest of Maricopa, CA · earthquakes near Maricopa
Magnitude
M 2.5 (ml)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Santa Barbara County, 73 km SW
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, 1 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 758 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 19 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. In Maricopa, 10 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.

Likely felt in: Maricopa 10 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 180 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 86,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 61,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 180 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.5 The 1952 Kern County, California Earthquake · 40 km E of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 Tejon Pass, California · 49 km E of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 13km WNW of Grapevine, CA · 34 km E of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 Southwest of Tejon Pass, California · 50 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 9km NW of Grapevine, CA · 40 km E 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 34.9698, -119.4337. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Barbara County, CA 73 km (46 mi) SW earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
Ventura County, CA 73 km (46 mi) SSE earthquakes near Ventura County
Kern County, CA 77 km (48 mi) ENE earthquakes near Kern County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 103 km (64 mi) WNW earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Los Angeles County, CA 137 km (85 mi) SE earthquakes near Los Angeles County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 8km SSW of Buttonwillow, CA
  2. 2.7 10km WNW of Grapevine, CA
  3. 1.8 14km SW of Buttonwillow, CA
  4. 1.6 18km SSW of Lamont, CA
  5. 1.8 19km NW of Grapevine, CA
  6. 1.9 11km NE of Pine Mountain Club, CA
  7. 1.9 14km SW of Arvin, CA
  8. 2.2 26km SW of Pine Mountain Club, CA
  9. 2.3 13km W of Grapevine, CA
  10. 1.9 19km N of Pine Mountain Club, CA
  11. 2.0 18km ESE of Maricopa, CA
  12. 1.8 16km NW of Grapevine, CA
  13. 2.3 7km WNW of Grapevine, CA
  14. 3.6 10km W of Grapevine, CA
  15. 2.1 6km N of Taft, 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.