Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Arvin, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Arvin in the 24 hours to 7:03 am PST (15:03 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 1.8 earthquake was recorded 23 km (15 mi) east-northeast of Arvin, CA, at 5:29 pm PST on 16 December 2021 (01:29 UTC), 5.6 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 24km ENE of Arvin, CA
40 km (25 mi) E of Bakersfield, CA · 145 km (90 mi) N of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 5:29 pm PST on 16 December 2021 ()
- Where
- 23 km (15 mi) east-northeast of Arvin, CA · earthquakes near Arvin
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- 1 report · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Kern County, 12 km WNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Edison fault, 4 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 1790 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Arvin, CA
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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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Arvin, 23 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, Tehachapi, Stallion Springs, Lamont, Weedpatch.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 14 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 790,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 70× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 14 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 2,200 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 · 18 km W of this epicentre
- 5.7 11km N of Lamont, CA · 27 km W of this epicentre
- 5.6 19km N of Tehachapi, CA · 12 km E of this epicentre
- 5.6 14km NNW of Tehachapi, CA · 12 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.5 13km ENE of Grapevine, CA · 41 km SSW 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 35.3145, -118.6042. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 12 km (7 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 103 km (64 mi) | N | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Ventura County, CA | 117 km (73 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Kings County, CA | 138 km (86 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Kings County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
47 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 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 12km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.5 11km SW of Arvin, CA
- 2.3 14km SSW of Arvin, CA
- 1.5 8km NNE of Grapevine, CA
- 2.1 22km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.8 12km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.7 27km SSW of Bodfish, CA
- 1.8 26km SSW of Bodfish, CA
- 2.0 12km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.7 13km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 2.4 5km W of Kernville, 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.