Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Mojave, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Mojave in the 24 hours to 5:30 am PST (13:30 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 44 km (27 mi) NE, at 8:01 am PDT on 23 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Mojave
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 22 km (13 mi) north of Mojave, CA, at 6:30 pm PST on 20 November 2021 (02:30 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 22km N of Mojave, CA
- When
- 6:30 pm PST on 20 November 2021 ()
- Where
- 22 km (13 mi) north of Mojave, CA · earthquakes near Mojave
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 0.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 50 km WNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Southern Sierra Nevada fault, 16 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 1816 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Mojave, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Mojave, 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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Mojave, 22 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: California City, Tehachapi, Golden Hills.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.6 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.6 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
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.0 on 2021-08-27 — about 5,400 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.7 12km NW of California City, California · 12 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.6 19km N of Tehachapi, CA · 26 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.6 14km NNW of Tehachapi, CA · 28 km W of this epicentre
- 5.5 22km N of Tehachapi, CA · 27 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.4 25km SSW of Bodfish, CA · 37 km WNW 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 35.2470, -118.1898. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 50 km (31 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 117 km (73 mi) | S | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Tulare County, CA | 122 km (76 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Ventura County, CA | 131 km (81 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
39 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 13km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 2.0 13km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.7 13km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.6 13km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 2.2 13km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.6 7km SSW of Mojave, CA
- 1.6 12km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 3.3 13km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 2.3 24km ENE of Arvin, CA
- 1.9 31km ESE of Lake Isabella, CA
- 1.8 25km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.6 15km WSW of Johannesburg, CA
- 1.7 7km SSW of Mojave, CA
- 1.5 8km N of Mojave, CA
- 1.7 7km S 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.