QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Frazier Park, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Frazier Park in the 24 hours to 8:27 am PST (16:27 UTC). The last one was M 3.8, 51 km (31 mi) SSE, at 8:00 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 199 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Frazier Park

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) southeast of Frazier Park, CA, at 11:19 am PDT on 31 March 2021 (18:19 UTC), 14 km deep.

USGS: 5km SE of Frazier Park, CA

97 km (60 mi) NNW of Los Angeles, CA · 56 km (35 mi) NW of Santa Clarita, CA

11:19 am PDT, Mar 31, 2021 · · 14 km deep · released about 7.3 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Ventura County 52 kmKern County 64 kmLos Angeles County 89 kmSanta Barbara County 106 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
11:19 am PDT on 31 March 2021 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) southeast of Frazier Park, CA · earthquakes near Frazier Park
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Ventura County, 52 km SSW
Nearest mapped fault
Garlock fault, 3 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 2052 days ago

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 Frazier Park, 5 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: Lebec, Pine Mountain Club.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.3 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.3 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 4.1 on 2016-03-12 — about 6,500 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 21 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.5 The 1952 Kern County, California Earthquake · 20 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 Tejon Pass, California · 13 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 13km WNW of Grapevine, CA · 25 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 Southwest of Tejon Pass, California · 12 km SW of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 13km ENE of Grapevine, CA · 25 km NNE 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 34.7882, -118.9162. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Ventura County, CA 52 km (32 mi) SSW earthquakes near Ventura County
Kern County, CA 64 km (40 mi) NNE earthquakes near Kern County
Los Angeles County, CA 89 km (55 mi) SE earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Santa Barbara County, CA 106 km (66 mi) WSW earthquakes near Santa Barbara County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

50 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.6 19km NW of Grapevine, CA
  2. 1.9 10km WSW of Grapevine, CA
  3. 1.7 16km N of Pine Mountain Club, CA
  4. 1.8 12km WSW of Lake Hughes, CA
  5. 1.8 12km WSW of Lake Hughes, CA
  6. 1.6 8km W of Frazier Park, CA
  7. 1.6 19km N of Pine Mountain Club, CA
  8. 1.9 9km W of Grapevine, CA
  9. 1.6 19km ENE of Maricopa, CA
  10. 1.5 17km ENE of Lebec, CA
  11. 1.7 18km WNW of Grapevine, CA
  12. 1.7 7km N of Piru, CA
  13. 1.6 9km NNW of Piru, CA
  14. 1.7 18km N of Pine Mountain Club, CA
  15. 2.0 9km S of Lamont, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.