Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.5ml
Earthquake near Kernville, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Kernville in the 24 hours to 10:22 am PST (18:22 UTC). The last one was M 2.4, 11 km (7 mi) NE, at 9:35 am PDT on 21 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Kernville
This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 25 km (15 mi) east-southeast of Kernville, CA, at 4:54 am PDT on 4 August 2020 (11:54 UTC), 7.6 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 25km ESE of Kernville, CA
83 km (52 mi) ENE of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 4:54 am PDT on 4 August 2020 ()
- Where
- 25 km (15 mi) east-southeast of Kernville, CA · earthquakes near Kernville
- Magnitude
- M 2.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- 2 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Kern County, 59 km WSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Southern Sierra Nevada fault, 19 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 1648 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Kernville, CA
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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 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 21 km (13 mi) from the epicentre. In Kernville, 25 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: Weldon, Wofford Heights, Lake Isabella, Bodfish.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 190 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 80,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 57,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.1× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.5 about 190 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 5.5 on 2019-07-06 — about 29,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 17 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 23 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.7 12km NW of California City, California · 49 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.6 19km N of Tehachapi, CA · 45 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.5 22km N of Tehachapi, CA · 42 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 24 km ENE 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 35.6417, -118.1895. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 59 km (37 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 84 km (52 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Inyo County, CA | 124 km (77 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Inyo County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
15 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 7km W of Kernville, CA
- 1.6 13km E of Little Lake, CA
- 2.1 19km W of Johannesburg, CA
- 2.0 24km N of Tehachapi, CA
- 2.0 13km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.9 12km WNW of Wofford Heights, CA
- 2.2 28km NNE of Kernville, CA
- 1.5 26km SSW of Bodfish, CA
- 1.6 15km ESE of Little Lake, CA
- 2.0 13km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.6 17km ESE of Little Lake, CA
- 1.9 24km SW of Bodfish, CA
- 1.6 26km W of Inyokern, CA
- 2.6 19km ESE of Little Lake, CA
- 1.7 12km WNW of Wofford Heights, 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.