Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near Ridgecrest, CA
Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Ridgecrest in the last 24 hours. M 1.5, 7 km (4 mi) E of Ridgecrest, at 3:54 am PST on 12 November 2026 (11:54 UTC); the estimated shaking in Ridgecrest was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Ridgecrest
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 46 km (29 mi) west-southwest of Ridgecrest, CA, at 11:23 am PST on 16 January 2020 (19:23 UTC), 10 km deep.
USGS: 35km ESE of Bodfish, CA
82 km (51 mi) E of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 11:23 am PST on 16 January 2020 ()
- Where
- 46 km (29 mi) west-southwest of Ridgecrest, CA · earthquakes near Ridgecrest
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 55 km WSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Southern Sierra Nevada fault, 9 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 2492 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Ridgecrest, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Ridgecrest, 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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Ridgecrest, 46 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: Weldon.
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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 95× the energy of this one
- 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 4.8 on 2019-07-06 — about 48,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 33 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.7 12km NW of California City, California · 28 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.6 19km N of Tehachapi, CA · 34 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.6 14km NNW of Tehachapi, CA · 40 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.5 22km N of Tehachapi, CA · 32 km WSW 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 35.4540, -118.1408. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 55 km (34 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 104 km (64 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
13 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.5 23km NE of Arvin, CA
- 1.5 16km W of Johannesburg, CA
- 2.1 17km W of Johannesburg, CA
- 2.4 16km W of Johannesburg, CA
- 1.5 17km ESE of Bodfish, CA
- 2.8 13km W of Mojave, CA
- 1.7 25km SSW of Bodfish, CA
- 1.9 8km SE of Tehachapi, CA
- 2.1 13km W of Mojave, CA
- 1.6 13km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.7 13km WSW of Johannesburg, CA
- 1.6 17km WSW of Johannesburg, CA
- 2.3 17km WSW of Johannesburg, 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.