Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near Wasco, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Wasco in the 24 hours to 9:33 am PST (17:33 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 95 km (59 mi) SSE, at 3:38 am PDT on 12 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 798 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Wasco
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 39 km (24 mi) west-southwest of Wasco, CA, at 10:38 pm PDT on 30 May 2020 (05:38 UTC), 9.3 km deep.
USGS: 27km NE of Simmler, CA
67 km (42 mi) WNW of Bakersfield, CA · 54 km (33 mi) WSW of Delano, CA
- When
- 10:38 pm PDT on 30 May 2020 ()
- Where
- 39 km (24 mi) west-southwest of Wasco, CA · earthquakes near Wasco
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 9.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Luis Obispo County, 64 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, 18 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 2355 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Wasco, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Wasco, 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Wasco, 39 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Lost Hills, Buttonwillow.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 11 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,300,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 930,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 83× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 53,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.
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 35.4982, -119.7595. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 64 km (40 mi) | W | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Kings County, CA | 64 km (40 mi) | N | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Kern County, CA | 95 km (59 mi) | E | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 110 km (68 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Tulare County, CA | 120 km (74 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Tulare County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
49 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.5 15km SSE of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.5 34km S of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.9 33km NNE of Simmler, CA
- 2.0 18km ESE of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.8 22km SE of Kettleman City, CA
- 2.0 25km SE of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.8 20km ESE of Kettleman City, CA
- 3.0 15km SSE of Buttonwillow, CA
- 3.9 15km SSE of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.6 22km WNW of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.6 16km SW of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.6 15km W of Taft, CA
- 1.7 17km WSW of Rosedale, CA
- 1.6 9km SSE of Alpaugh, CA
- 1.8 15km NE 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
- 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.