Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.4ml
Earthquake near Frazier Park, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Frazier Park in the 24 hours to 5:20 am PST (13:20 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 3.4 earthquake was recorded 12 km (7 mi) northwest of Frazier Park, CA, at 12:58 pm PDT on 17 August 2023 (19:58 UTC), 8.9 km deep. 56 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 11 km WSW of Grapevine, CA
51 km (31 mi) S of Bakersfield, CA · 113 km (71 mi) NNW of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 12:58 pm PDT on 17 August 2023 ()
- Where
- 12 km (7 mi) northwest of Frazier Park, CA · earthquakes near Frazier Park
- Magnitude
- M 3.4 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- 56 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Nearest
- Kern County, 57 km NNE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas 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 1112 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Frazier Park, 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 56 km (35 mi) from the epicentre. In Frazier Park, 12 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.
Likely felt in: Frazier Park 12 km, intensity III · Maricopa 37 km, intensity II · Arvin 39 km, intensity II · Lamont 42 km, intensity II · Taft 47 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1.8 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.4 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 92,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 4,100× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,900× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.4 about 1.8 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 3.8× more
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 13 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 19 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.5 The 1952 Kern County, California Earthquake · 8 km NNE of this epicentre
- 6.0 Tejon Pass, California · 13 km E of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Bakersfield, California · 50 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.8 13km WNW of Grapevine, CA · 9 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 Southwest of Tejon Pass, California · 22 km S 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 34.8987, -119.0390. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 57 km (36 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Ventura County, CA | 61 km (38 mi) | S | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 100 km (62 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 106 km (66 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
48 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 20 km N of Fillmore, CA
- 1.8 2 km E of Pine Mountain Club, CA
- 2.1 14 km E of Maricopa, CA
- 1.5 18 km N of Pine Mountain Club, CA
- 1.5 4 km NE of Frazier Park, CA
- 2.5 4 km W of Lebec, CA
- 1.9 20 km N of Fillmore, CA
- 1.6 18 km WNW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.8 20 km N of Fillmore, CA
- 2.2 24 km SSW of Frazier Park, CA
- 1.6 4 km SSE of Frazier Park, CA
- 1.9 24 km SW of Lamont, CA
- 1.5 24 km SW of Lamont, CA
- 1.5 14 km N of Santa Paula, CA
- 1.5 13 km N of Santa Paula, 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.