Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
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 1.8 earthquake was recorded 44 km (27 mi) west-southwest of Ridgecrest, CA, at 1:44 am PST on 1 March 2021 (09:44 UTC), 2.9 km deep.
USGS: 32km ESE of Lake Isabella, CA
84 km (52 mi) ENE of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 1:44 am PST on 1 March 2021 ()
- Where
- 44 km (27 mi) west-southwest of Ridgecrest, CA · earthquakes near Ridgecrest
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 2.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 57 km WSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Southern Sierra Nevada 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 2082 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 13 km (8 mi) from the epicentre. In Ridgecrest, 44 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: Weldon.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 4.8 on 2019-07-06 — about 32,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 26 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.7 12km NW of California City, California · 36 km S of this epicentre
- 5.6 19km N of Tehachapi, CA · 39 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.6 14km NNW of Tehachapi, CA · 45 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.5 22km N of Tehachapi, CA · 37 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 35.5318, -118.1395. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 57 km (36 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 97 km (60 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Inyo County, CA | 132 km (82 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Inyo County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
15 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 12km WNW of Wofford Heights, CA
- 2.0 19km NE of Kernville, CA
- 1.7 24km NW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.8 24km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.6 8km ESE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.8 23km ENE of Arvin, CA
- 1.7 11km SSE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.8 11km SSE of Bodfish, CA
- 2.2 21km SSE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.5 21km SSE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.9 12km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.6 7km E of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.6 14km SE of Lake Isabella, CA
- 2.9 21km SSW of Little Lake, CA
- 1.9 23km NNW of Tehachapi, 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.