Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near McFarland, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in McFarland in the 24 hours to 8:03 am PST (16:03 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 100 km (62 mi) SSE, at 3:38 am PDT on 12 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 798 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near McFarland
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) east of McFarland, CA, at 12:32 am PDT on 5 June 2021 (07:32 UTC), 18 km deep.
USGS: 19km E of McFarland, CA
36 km (22 mi) N of Bakersfield, CA · 24 km (15 mi) ESE of Delano, CA
- When
- 12:32 am PDT on 5 June 2021 ()
- Where
- 19 km (12 mi) east of McFarland, CA · earthquakes near McFarland
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 18 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 45 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- New Hope fault, 15 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 1984 days ago
Earthquake alerts for McFarland, CA
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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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In McFarland, 19 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: Richgrove, Delano, Oildale, Shafter.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 9.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 99× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 9.6 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 4.9 on 2016-02-24 — about 63,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.8 Near Bakersfield, California · 46 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.7 11km N of Lamont, CA · 37 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.5 The 1952 Bakersfield, California Earthquake · 36 km S of this epicentre
- 5.2 18km NNE of Lamont, CA · 35 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.1 26km NE of Arvin, CA · 48 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 35.6727, -119.0190. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 45 km (28 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 65 km (41 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Kings County, CA | 84 km (52 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Kings County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
13 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 8km WSW of Shafter, CA
- 1.6 5km SW of Bodfish, CA
- 1.8 25km SSW of Bodfish, CA
- 1.8 25km SW of Bodfish, CA
- 2.0 25km SW of Bodfish, CA
- 1.5 5km WNW of Wofford Heights, CA
- 2.7 7km SSW of Bodfish, CA
- 1.8 21km ENE of Delano, CA
- 2.4 5km W of Kernville, CA
- 1.8 8km ESE of Shafter, CA
- 1.8 14km ESE of Porterville, CA
- 1.7 17km WSW of Rosedale, CA
- 1.6 9km SSE of Alpaugh, 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.