Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.5ml
Earthquake near Porterville, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Porterville in the 24 hours to 7:17 pm PST (03:17 UTC). The last one was M 1.6, 9 km (6 mi) SE, at 3:02 pm PDT on 22 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Porterville
This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 40 km (25 mi) east-northeast of Porterville, CA, at 6:11 am PST on 30 January 2024 (14:11 UTC), 12 km deep.
USGS: 34 km SE of Three Rivers, CA
41 km (25 mi) ENE of Porterville, CA · 121 km (75 mi) ESE of Fresno, CA
- When
- 6:11 am PST on 30 January 2024 ()
- Where
- 40 km (25 mi) east-northeast of Porterville, CA · earthquakes near Porterville
- Magnitude
- M 2.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Tulare County, 14 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- Kern Canyon fault, 19 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 943 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Porterville, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Porterville, 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 19 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. In Porterville, 40 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 150 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 99,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 70,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 6.2× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.5 about 150 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 4.0 on 2021-01-17 — about 210 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.0 5 km S of Springville, California · 25 km SW 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 36.2347, -118.6300. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tulare County, CA | 14 km (8 mi) | W | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Kern County, CA | 99 km (62 mi) | S | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Kings County, CA | 108 km (67 mi) | W | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Fresno County, CA | 109 km (68 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Fresno County |
| Inyo County, CA | 116 km (72 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| Madera County, CA | 147 km (92 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Madera County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 28 km W of Coso Junction, CA
- 1.8 27 km WSW of Olancha, CA
- 2.0 42 km WSW of Olancha, CA
- 2.6 42 km WSW of Olancha, CA
- 1.5 42 km WSW of Olancha, CA
- 2.0 42 km WSW of Olancha, CA
- 3.2 42 km WSW of Olancha, CA
- 1.7 42 km WSW of Olancha, CA
- 1.9 28 km WSW of Olancha, CA
- 2.5 20 km NNE of Kernville, CA
- 1.9 28 km N of Kernville, CA
- 1.6 9 km SE of Porterville, CA
- 1.8 28 km N of Kernville, CA
- 1.6 27 km W of Olancha, CA
- 1.6 19 km SW of Olancha, 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.