Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Arvin, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Arvin in the 24 hours to 6:49 am PST (14:49 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 14 km (9 mi) WSW, at 2:35 am PDT on 29 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Arvin
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 20 km (12 mi) east-northeast of Arvin, CA, at 6:46 am PST on 29 January 2022 (14:46 UTC), 6.9 km deep.
USGS: 20km ENE of Arvin, CA
39 km (24 mi) ESE of Bakersfield, CA · 140 km (87 mi) N of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 6:46 am PST on 29 January 2022 ()
- Where
- 20 km (12 mi) east-northeast of Arvin, CA · earthquakes near Arvin
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 6.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 13 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- White Wolf fault, under 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 1747 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Arvin, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Arvin, 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Arvin, 20 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, Stallion Springs, Tehachapi, Lamont, Weedpatch.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 8.1 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.1 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 3,700 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 27 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.5 The 1952 Kern County, California Earthquake · 48 km SW of this epicentre
- 6.0 Tejon Pass, California · 48 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Bakersfield, California · 16 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.7 11km N of Lamont, CA · 27 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.6 19km N of Tehachapi, CA · 15 km ENE 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 35.2667, -118.6235. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 13 km (8 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 108 km (67 mi) | N | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Ventura County, CA | 111 km (69 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 124 km (77 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Los Angeles 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
49 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 8km SSW of Mojave, CA
- 1.9 13km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.6 14km E of Lake Isabella, CA
- 1.6 13km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 2.3 14km ENE of Lake Isabella, CA
- 1.8 11km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.7 15km SSE of Bodfish, CA
- 2.7 7km SSW of Bodfish, CA
- 1.5 30km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.8 8km NNE of Mojave, CA
- 1.6 22km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.6 22km ESE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.8 13km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.5 25km N of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.8 7km SSW 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.