Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Arvin, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Arvin in the 24 hours to 12:28 pm PST (20:28 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 1.5 earthquake was recorded 21 km (13 mi) northeast of Arvin, CA, at 2:50 am PST on 27 January 2023 (10:50 UTC), 8.3 km deep.
USGS: 22km NE of Arvin, CA
32 km (20 mi) E of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 2:50 am PST on 27 January 2023 ()
- Where
- 21 km (13 mi) northeast of Arvin, CA · earthquakes near Arvin
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 5 km WSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Edison fault, 9 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 1385 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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Arvin, 21 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, Lamont, Weedpatch, Golden Hills.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.6 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 2,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.6 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 5,400 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 23 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.8 Near Bakersfield, California · 13 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.7 11km N of Lamont, CA · 19 km W of this epicentre
- 5.6 19km N of Tehachapi, CA · 20 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.6 14km NNW of Tehachapi, CA · 21 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.5 13km ENE of Grapevine, CA · 43 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 35.3598, -118.6803. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 5 km (3 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 97 km (60 mi) | N | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Ventura County, CA | 119 km (74 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Kings County, CA | 130 km (80 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Kings 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 NNE of Grapevine, CA
- 3.4 13km NNE of Grapevine, CA
- 1.5 19km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.6 21km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.6 5km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.7 5km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.7 5km E of Wofford Heights, CA
- 2.5 13km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.7 5km ESE of Wofford Heights, CA
- 1.8 25km SW of Bodfish, CA
- 2.3 5km SSW of Bodfish, CA
- 1.6 9km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 2.4 12km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.8 13km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 2.4 13km SE of Bodfish, 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.