Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Inyokern, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Inyokern in the 24 hours to 8:39 pm PST (04:39 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 38 km (23 mi) S, at 8:01 am PDT on 23 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 3 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Inyokern
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 26 km (16 mi) west-northwest of Inyokern, CA, at 3:50 pm PDT on 19 August 2021 (22:50 UTC), 11 km deep.
USGS: 26km WNW of Inyokern, CA
97 km (60 mi) ENE of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 3:50 pm PDT on 19 August 2021 ()
- Where
- 26 km (16 mi) west-northwest of Inyokern, CA · earthquakes near Inyokern
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 73 km SW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Southern Sierra Nevada fault, 17 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 1911 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Inyokern, 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 Inyokern, 26 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Weldon.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.4 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 2,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 250,000,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 13 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.8 16km NNE of Ridgecrest, California · 40 km E of this epicentre
- 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 12 km E of this epicentre
- 5.4 4km N of Inyokern, CA · 24 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.4 17km N of Ridgecrest, California · 38 km E 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 35.7377, -118.0762. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 73 km (46 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 84 km (52 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Inyo County, CA | 110 km (68 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Inyo County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
57 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 13km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 2.4 20km W of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.5 14km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 2.1 17km ESE of Little Lake, CA
- 1.7 15km ESE of Little Lake, CA
- 1.6 12km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.9 12km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.6 15km ESE of Little Lake, CA
- 2.2 10km NE of Coso Junction, CA
- 1.7 21km E of Little Lake, CA
- 1.6 14km WSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.7 15km SSW of Olancha, CA
- 2.3 16km W of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.6 16km W of Searles Valley, CA
- 1.6 15km SSW of Olancha, 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.