20km NW of Tehachapi, CA

2021-09-17 01:09 UTC · 5.3 km deep · released about 47 lb of TNT

Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.

When: 2021-09-17 01:09 UTC
Magnitude: M 2.1 (ml)
Depth: 5.3 km below the surface
Felt: 1 report · strongest reported intensity I
Nearest: Kern County, 16 km WNW
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 1836 days ago · we first saw it 1836 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 47 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 320,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 230,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 20× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 2.1 about 47 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.

Where

Map loads when it scrolls into view

Epicentre 35.2783, -118.5733. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction
Kern County, CA	16 km (10 mi)	ESE of here	earthquakes near Kern County
Tulare County, CA	107 km (67 mi)	S of here	earthquakes near Tulare County
Ventura County, CA	114 km (71 mi)	NNE of here	earthquakes near Ventura County
Kings County, CA	143 km (89 mi)	SE of here	earthquakes near Kings County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

51 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

1.9 18km E of Grapevine, CA 16:13 UTC
1.7 4km SE of Bodfish, CA 09:18 UTC
2.0 14km E of Arvin, CA 19:20 UTC
1.6 7km SSW of Mojave, CA 22:37 UTC
1.7 28km NW of California City, CA 06:30 UTC
1.6 13km SE of Bodfish, CA 23:11 UTC
1.8 14km E of Arvin, CA 23:39 UTC
2.1 11km SSE of Bodfish, CA 09:24 UTC
1.7 6km S of Mojave, CA 22:37 UTC
2.4 13km SE of Bodfish, CA 22:47 UTC
1.8 22km NNW of Tehachapi, CA 01:10 UTC
1.6 23km N of Tehachapi, CA 18:04 UTC
1.8 24km ENE of Arvin, CA 01:29 UTC
1.6 13km N of Tehachapi, CA 20:27 UTC
1.5 7km SSW of Mojave, CA 19:57 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 13:30 UTC. QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.0 on 2021-08-27 — it released about 640 times the energy of this one.

From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.

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.