Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Arvin, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Arvin in the 24 hours to 7:03 am PST (15:03 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 14 km (9 mi) WSW, at 2:35 am PDT on 29 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Arvin
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 25 km (15 mi) northeast of Arvin, CA, at 9:59 am PDT on 16 October 2020 (16:59 UTC), 7.4 km deep.
USGS: 24km NE of Arvin, CA
35 km (22 mi) E of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 9:59 am PDT on 16 October 2020 ()
- Where
- 25 km (15 mi) northeast of Arvin, CA · earthquakes near Arvin
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 8 km WSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Breckenridge 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 2218 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Arvin, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Arvin, 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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Arvin, 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: Bear Valley Springs, Lamont, Bodfish, Weedpatch.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.8 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,200,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.8 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 20 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.8 Near Bakersfield, California · 16 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.7 11km N of Lamont, CA · 22 km W of this epicentre
- 5.6 19km N of Tehachapi, CA · 19 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.6 14km NNW of Tehachapi, CA · 21 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.5 13km ENE of Grapevine, CA · 46 km SSW 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 35.3798, -118.6575. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 8 km (5 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 95 km (59 mi) | N | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Ventura County, CA | 122 km (76 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Kings County, CA | 130 km (81 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Kings County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
46 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 12km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.6 14km SE of Lake Isabella, CA
- 2.2 21km NNE of Arvin, CA
- 1.9 12km N of Grapevine, CA
- 1.9 23km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.9 23km SW of Lamont, CA
- 1.8 32km ESE of Lake Isabella, CA
- 2.0 22km ESE of Bodfish, CA
- 2.0 21km ENE of Arvin, CA
- 1.9 17km S of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.5 11km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
- 2.1 32km ESE of Lake Isabella, CA
- 1.7 17km NW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.6 30km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.7 13km S of Arvin, 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.