Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Ridgecrest, CA
Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Ridgecrest in the last 24 hours. M 1.5, 7 km (4 mi) E of Ridgecrest, at 3:54 am PST on 12 November 2026 (11:54 UTC); the estimated shaking in Ridgecrest was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Ridgecrest
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 32 km (20 mi) south-southeast of Ridgecrest, CA, at 8:01 am PDT on 12 April 2022 (15:01 UTC), 2.6 km deep.
USGS: 8km ESE of Johannesburg, CA
- When
- 8:01 am PDT on 12 April 2022 ()
- Where
- 32 km (20 mi) south-southeast of Ridgecrest, CA · earthquakes near Ridgecrest
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 2.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 107 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- Harper fault, 14 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 1676 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Ridgecrest, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Ridgecrest, 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 Ridgecrest, 32 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.4 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 2,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.4 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 7.1 on 2019-07-06 — about 210,000,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.8 16km NNE of Ridgecrest, California · 47 km N of this epicentre
- 5.7 12km NW of California City, California · 49 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.4 4km N of Inyokern, CA · 44 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.4 17km N of Ridgecrest, California · 49 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.2 8km NE of Inyokern, CA · 42 km NNW 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 35.3478, -117.5525. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 107 km (66 mi) | W | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 148 km (92 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 14km WSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.5 4km NW of Boron, CA
- 1.7 23km S of Trona, CA
- 1.5 4km NNW of Boron, CA
- 1.6 17km W of Searles Valley, CA
- 2.3 13km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.5 18km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.8 24km NE of Johannesburg, CA
- 1.6 12km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.6 12km WSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.8 18km S of Trona, CA
- 2.0 18km S of Trona, CA
- 1.6 12km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.8 15km SW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.5 18km S of Trona, 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.