Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near Kernville, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Kernville in the 24 hours to 10:39 am PST (18:39 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 1.7 earthquake was recorded 24 km (15 mi) north of Kernville, CA, at 7:44 am PDT on 4 April 2023 (14:44 UTC), 3.6 km deep.
USGS: 24km N of Kernville, CA
91 km (56 mi) NE of Bakersfield, CA · 59 km (37 mi) E of Porterville, CA
- When
- 7:44 am PDT on 4 April 2023 ()
- Where
- 24 km (15 mi) north of Kernville, CA · earthquakes near Kernville
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 3.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Tulare County, 46 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Kern Canyon fault, 7 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 1318 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 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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Kernville, 24 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.
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 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 92× 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 4.6 on 2019-07-18 — about 27,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 50 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 49 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.2 7km ESE of Coso Junction, CA · 46 km E of this epicentre
- 5.0 5 km S of Springville, California · 42 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.0 22km WNW of Inyokern, CA · 43 km SE 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 35.9710, -118.3845. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tulare County, CA | 46 km (28 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Kern County, CA | 76 km (47 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Inyo County, CA | 110 km (68 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| Fresno County, CA | 144 km (89 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Fresno County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
54 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 27 km WSW of Olancha, CA
- 1.5 21 km SW of Olancha, CA
- 1.9 6 km NE of Coso Junction, CA
- 2.6 28 km WSW of Olancha, CA
- 2.0 6 km NE of Coso Junction, CA
- 2.0 22 km SW of Olancha, CA
- 1.9 2 km NNW of Little Lake, CA
- 1.9 11 km NE of Coso Junction, CA
- 1.7 10 km NNE of Coso Junction, CA
- 2.2 10 km NE of Coso Junction, CA
- 2.2 10 km NE of Coso Junction, CA
- 1.9 10 km NE of Coso Junction, CA
- 2.7 10 km NE of Coso Junction, CA
- 1.6 2km NNW of Little Lake, CA
- 1.7 6km SW of Coso Junction, 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.