Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Ridgecrest, CA
Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Ridgecrest in the last 24 hours. M 1.5, 7 km (4 mi) E of Ridgecrest, at 3:54 am PST on 12 November 2026 (11:54 UTC); the estimated shaking in Ridgecrest was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Ridgecrest
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 33 km (20 mi) south-southwest of Ridgecrest, CA, at 8:35 pm PDT on 18 July 2021 (03:35 UTC), 6.7 km deep.
USGS: 18km W of Johannesburg, CA
- When
- 8:35 pm PDT on 18 July 2021 ()
- Where
- 33 km (20 mi) south-southwest of Ridgecrest, CA · earthquakes near Ridgecrest
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 6.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 82 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- Garlock fault, 4 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 1942 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Ridgecrest, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Ridgecrest, 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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Ridgecrest, 33 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: California City.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 9 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 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 9 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 6.4 on 2019-07-04 — about 13,000,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 40 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 16km NNE of Ridgecrest, California · 48 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.7 12km NW of California City, California · 27 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 42 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.4 4km N of Inyokern, CA · 36 km N 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 35.3565, -117.8308. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 82 km (51 mi) | W | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 129 km (80 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Ventura County, CA | 163 km (101 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
47 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 11km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.7 13km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.8 30km ESE of Lake Isabella, CA
- 1.7 5km NNW of Boron, CA
- 1.6 5km NNW of Boron, CA
- 1.7 11km SW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.5 5km NW of Boron, CA
- 2.0 14km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.6 5km NW of Boron, CA
- 1.8 14km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.5 10km WNW of Johannesburg, CA
- 1.9 20km ESE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.5 26km WNW of Inyokern, CA
- 1.5 22km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.6 6km NW of Boron, 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.