Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Oildale, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Oildale in the 24 hours to 6:52 am PST (14:52 UTC). The last one was M 4.3, 110 km (68 mi) E, at 9:40 am PDT on 13 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Oildale
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 9 km (5 mi) east-southeast of Oildale, CA, at 1:49 am PDT on 27 May 2020 (08:49 UTC), 18 km deep.
USGS: 8km ESE of Oildale, CA
9 km (6 mi) ENE of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 1:49 am PDT on 27 May 2020 ()
- Where
- 9 km (5 mi) east-southeast of Oildale, CA · earthquakes near Oildale
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 18 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 19 km E
- Nearest mapped fault
- Edison fault, 12 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 2073 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Oildale, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Oildale, CA. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Oildale, 9 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Bakersfield, Lamont, Greenacres, Weedpatch, Rosedale, Arvin.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.1 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.1 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 2016-02-24 — about 86,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 26 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.5 The 1952 Kern County, California Earthquake · 47 km S of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Bakersfield, California · 15 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.8 13km WNW of Grapevine, CA · 47 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.7 11km N of Lamont, CA · 5 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.6 19km N of Tehachapi, CA · 44 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 35.3790, -118.9395. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 19 km (12 mi) | E | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 96 km (59 mi) | N | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Kings County, CA | 110 km (69 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Ventura County, CA | 115 km (71 mi) | S | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 137 km (85 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
41 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 14km S of Arvin, CA
- 2.1 14km S of Arvin, CA
- 3.1 14km S of Arvin, CA
- 2.0 10km SSW of Arvin, CA
- 2.3 10km SSW of Arvin, CA
- 1.8 24km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.6 21km S of Bodfish, CA
- 1.6 24km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.5 13km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 2.7 10km WNW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.7 14km S of Arvin, CA
- 1.6 18km SSE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.6 18km SSW of Lamont, CA
- 3.0 24km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.6 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.