QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Lebec, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Lebec in the 24 hours to 11:40 am PST (19:40 UTC). The last one was M 1.9, 9 km (5 mi) ENE, at 9:24 pm PST on 5 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Lebec

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 17 km (10 mi) east-northeast of Lebec, CA, at 6:08 am PDT on 14 October 2021 (13:08 UTC), 9.3 km deep.

USGS: 17km ENE of Lebec, CA

54 km (33 mi) WNW of Lancaster, CA · 102 km (64 mi) NNW of Los Angeles, CA

6:08 am PDT, Oct 14, 2021 · · 9.3 km deep · released about 6.2 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kern County 49 kmVentura County 73 kmLos Angeles County 89 km
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
6:08 am PDT on 14 October 2021 ()
Where
17 km (10 mi) east-northeast of Lebec, CA · earthquakes near Lebec
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
9.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kern County, 49 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Garlock fault, under 1 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 1855 days ago

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 5 km (3 mi) from the epicentre. In Lebec, 17 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: Stallion Springs, Frazier Park, Bear Valley Springs.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.2 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 6.2 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 22 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.5 The 1952 Kern County, California Earthquake · 28 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 Tejon Pass, California · 18 km W of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 Near Bakersfield, California · 44 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 13km WNW of Grapevine, CA · 34 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.6 19km N of Tehachapi, CA · 49 km NNE 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 34.9080, -118.7015. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kern County, CA 49 km (30 mi) N earthquakes near Kern County
Ventura County, CA 73 km (45 mi) SSW earthquakes near Ventura County
Los Angeles County, CA 89 km (55 mi) SSE earthquakes near Los Angeles County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 18km NW of Grapevine, CA
  2. 1.7 18km NW of Grapevine, CA
  3. 1.7 7km S of Mojave, CA
  4. 1.6 20km ENE of Arvin, CA
  5. 2.3 3km SSE of Frazier Park, CA
  6. 2.3 24km ENE of Arvin, CA
  7. 1.7 10km NNW of Piru, CA
  8. 2.4 13km NNW of Grapevine, CA
  9. 2.6 12km NNW of Grapevine, CA
  10. 2.8 12km NNW of Grapevine, CA
  11. 3.5 13km NNW of Grapevine, CA
  12. 1.6 25km SSW of Frazier Park, CA
  13. 1.8 19km E of Maricopa, CA
  14. 2.0 19km E of Maricopa, CA
  15. 2.2 20km NNE of Neenach, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.