QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Tehachapi, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Tehachapi in the 24 hours to 7:16 am PST (15:16 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

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 25 km (15 mi) north-northwest of Tehachapi, CA, at 4:16 pm PST on 16 January 2022 (00:16 UTC), 3.2 km deep.

USGS: 25km NNW of Tehachapi, CA

43 km (27 mi) E of Bakersfield, CA · 147 km (91 mi) N of Los Angeles, CA

4:16 pm PST, Jan 16, 2022 · · 3.2 km deep · released about 7.1 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Tehachapi Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kern County 15 kmTulare County 102 kmVentura County 120 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
4:16 pm PST on 16 January 2022 ()
Where
25 km (15 mi) north-northwest of Tehachapi, CA · earthquakes near Tehachapi
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
3.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kern County, 15 km W
Nearest mapped fault
Breckenridge fault, 4 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 1759 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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Tehachapi, 25 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: Bear Valley Springs, Golden Hills, Arvin, Stallion Springs, Bodfish.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.1 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.1 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 4,300 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 20 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 5.8 Near Bakersfield, California · 21 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.7 11km N of Lamont, CA · 30 km W of this epicentre
  3. 5.7 12km NW of California City, California · 47 km ESE of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 19km N of Tehachapi, CA · 10 km ESE of this epicentre
  5. 5.6 14km NNW of Tehachapi, CA · 11 km SE 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 35.3308, -118.5685. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kern County, CA 15 km (9 mi) W earthquakes near Kern County
Tulare County, CA 102 km (63 mi) N earthquakes near Tulare County
Ventura County, CA 120 km (74 mi) SSW earthquakes near Ventura County
Kings County, CA 140 km (87 mi) NW earthquakes near Kings County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 30km SE of Bodfish, CA
  2. 1.8 8km NNE of Mojave, CA
  3. 1.6 22km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
  4. 1.6 22km ESE of Bodfish, CA
  5. 1.8 13km SE of Bodfish, CA
  6. 1.5 25km N of Tehachapi, CA
  7. 1.5 14km W of Mojave, CA
  8. 1.9 16km NNW of California City, CA
  9. 2.5 24km S of Bodfish, CA
  10. 1.8 22km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
  11. 3.3 22km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
  12. 1.7 31km ESE of Lake Isabella, CA
  13. 1.6 21km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
  14. 1.5 11km SW of Arvin, CA
  15. 2.3 14km SSW of Arvin, 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.