Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.2ml
Earthquake near Lancaster, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Lancaster in the 24 hours to 8:32 am PST (16:32 UTC). The last one was M 3.8, 67 km (41 mi) WSW, at 8:00 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 199 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Lancaster
This page: a magnitude 2.2 earthquake was recorded 46 km (29 mi) northwest of Lancaster, CA, at 3:43 pm PST on 22 January 2022 (23:43 UTC), 7.1 km deep.
USGS: 20km NNE of Neenach, CA
44 km (27 mi) NW of Lancaster, CA · 104 km (65 mi) N of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 3:43 pm PST on 22 January 2022 ()
- Where
- 46 km (29 mi) northwest of Lancaster, CA · earthquakes near Lancaster
- Magnitude
- M 2.2 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.1 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 48 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Garlock fault, 3 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 1753 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Lancaster, 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 17 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Lancaster, 46 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, Golden Hills, Tehachapi, Bear Valley Springs.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 64 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.2 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 230,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 170,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 15× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.2 about 64 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 23 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.5 The 1952 Kern County, California Earthquake · 42 km W of this epicentre
- 6.0 Tejon Pass, California · 33 km W of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Bakersfield, California · 46 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 13km WNW of Grapevine, CA · 48 km W of this epicentre
- 5.6 19km N of Tehachapi, CA · 40 km N 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 34.9483, -118.5403. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 48 km (30 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Ventura County, CA | 85 km (53 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 87 km (54 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
45 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.6 8km WSW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.6 6km S of Mojave, CA
- 1.8 11km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.5 9km WSW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.8 8km NNE of Mojave, CA
- 1.6 2km SSE of Frazier Park, CA
- 1.6 22km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.8 8km WSW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.5 8km W of Grapevine, CA
- 1.5 25km N of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.8 7km SSW of Mojave, CA
- 1.9 4km NNW of Frazier Park, CA
- 1.5 7km S of Mojave, CA
- 1.6 6km SSW of Mojave, CA
- 1.7 8km 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.