Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Tehachapi, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Tehachapi in the 24 hours to 5:58 am PST (13:58 UTC). The last one was M 4.3, 61 km (38 mi) ENE, at 9:40 am PDT on 13 July 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Tehachapi
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) north of Tehachapi, CA, at 12:27 pm PST on 16 December 2021 (20:27 UTC), 8.0 km deep.
USGS: 13km N of Tehachapi, CA
53 km (33 mi) ESE of Bakersfield, CA · 136 km (85 mi) N of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 12:27 pm PST on 16 December 2021 ()
- Where
- 13 km (8 mi) north of Tehachapi, CA · earthquakes near Tehachapi
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 26 km WNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Edison 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 1792 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Tehachapi, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Tehachapi, 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 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Tehachapi, 13 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: Golden Hills, Bear Valley Springs, Stallion Springs.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.8 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 2,200,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.8 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 4,400 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 20 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.8 Near Bakersfield, California · 30 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.7 11km N of Lamont, CA · 40 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.7 12km NW of California City, California · 37 km E of this epicentre
- 5.6 19km N of Tehachapi, CA · 7 km N of this epicentre
- 5.6 14km NNW of Tehachapi, CA · 2 km WNW 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 35.2440, -118.4735. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 26 km (16 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 113 km (70 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Ventura County, CA | 115 km (72 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 118 km (73 mi) | S | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 7km S of Mojave, CA
- 1.6 6km SSW of Mojave, CA
- 1.7 8km S of Mojave, CA
- 1.5 14km W of Mojave, CA
- 1.9 16km NNW of California City, CA
- 2.5 24km S of Bodfish, CA
- 1.8 22km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
- 3.3 22km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.7 31km ESE of Lake Isabella, CA
- 1.6 21km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.5 11km SW of Arvin, CA
- 2.3 14km SSW of Arvin, CA
- 1.5 8km NNE of Grapevine, CA
- 1.6 7km S of Mojave, CA
- 2.1 22km NNW of Tehachapi, 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.