quarry blast · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Tehachapi, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Tehachapi in the 24 hours to 6:25 am PST (14:25 UTC). The last one was M 4.3, 61 km (38 mi) ENE, at 9:40 am PDT on 13 July 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Tehachapi
No: USGS classifies this as a quarry blast, not an earthquake. A magnitude 1.6 quarry blast was recorded 12 km (8 mi) southeast of Tehachapi, CA, at 11:42 am PDT on 15 October 2021 (18:42 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 12km SE of Tehachapi, CA
43 km (27 mi) NNW of Lancaster, CA · 115 km (72 mi) N of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 11:42 am PDT on 15 October 2021 ()
- Where
- 12 km (8 mi) southeast of Tehachapi, CA · earthquakes near Tehachapi
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- -0.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 47 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Garlock fault, 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 1852 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Tehachapi, CA
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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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Tehachapi, 12 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: Mojave, Golden Hills, Stallion Springs, Rosamond, Bear Valley Springs.
USGS catalogues this as quarry blast, not an earthquake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.6 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 2,300,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.6 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 14 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.8 Near Bakersfield, California · 49 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.7 12km NW of California City, California · 31 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.6 19km N of Tehachapi, CA · 30 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.6 14km NNW of Tehachapi, CA · 25 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 13km ENE of Grapevine, CA · 42 km W 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 35.0557, -118.3497. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 47 km (29 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 96 km (60 mi) | S | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Ventura County, CA | 106 km (66 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Ventura 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.
- 1.8 22km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
- 3.3 22km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.6 21km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
- 2.3 14km SSW of Arvin, CA
- 1.5 8km NNE of Grapevine, CA
- 1.6 7km S of Mojave, CA
- 2.1 22km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.7 27km SSW of Bodfish, CA
- 1.8 26km SSW of Bodfish, CA
- 1.6 6km SSW of Mojave, CA
- 1.6 7km SSW of Mojave, CA
- 2.3 24km ENE of Arvin, CA
- 1.8 25km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.7 7km SSW of Mojave, CA
- 1.5 8km N of Mojave, 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.