QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7ml

Earthquake near Alta Sierra, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Alta Sierra in the 24 hours to 1:09 pm PST (21:09 UTC). The last one was M 3.1, 14 km (9 mi) ESE, at 2:37 am PDT on 6 October 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 30 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Alta Sierra

This page: a magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 46 km (29 mi) north-northeast of Alta Sierra, CA, at 8:05 pm PST on 8 February 2022 (04:05 UTC), 3.3 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 42km WSW of Olancha, CA

54 km (33 mi) E of Porterville, CA · 103 km (64 mi) NNE of Bakersfield, CA

8:05 pm PST, Feb 8, 2022 · · 3.3 km deep · released about 380 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Alta Sierra Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Tulare County 32 kmKern County 92 kmInyo County 104 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
8:05 pm PST on 8 February 2022 ()
Where
46 km (29 mi) north-northeast of Alta Sierra, CA · earthquakes near Alta Sierra
Magnitude
M 2.7 (ml)
Depth
3.3 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Tulare County, 32 km WNW
Nearest mapped fault
Kern Canyon fault, under 1 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 1668 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 25 km (16 mi) from the epicentre. In Alta Sierra, 46 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 380 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 40,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 29,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.5× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.7 about 380 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 4.2 on 2020-06-04 — about 140 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.0 5 km S of Springville, California · 36 km W 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 36.1377, -118.4408. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Tulare County, CA 32 km (20 mi) WNW earthquakes near Tulare County
Kern County, CA 92 km (57 mi) SSW earthquakes near Kern County
Inyo County, CA 104 km (65 mi) ENE earthquakes near Inyo County
Fresno County, CA 129 km (80 mi) WNW earthquakes near Fresno County
Madera County, CA 167 km (104 mi) NW earthquakes near Madera County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

40 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.5 5km WNW of Wofford Heights, CA
  2. 1.7 2km SW of Olancha, CA
  3. 2.0 6km SE of Coso Junction, CA
  4. 1.9 5km SE of Coso Junction, CA
  5. 2.0 5km SSE of Coso Junction, CA
  6. 1.7 19km WSW of Olancha, CA
  7. 1.7 26km SW of Olancha, CA
  8. 3.5 14km NW of Coso Junction, CA
  9. 1.6 19km WSW of Olancha, CA
  10. 2.1 19km WSW of Olancha, CA
  11. 1.8 19km WSW of Olancha, CA
  12. 2.9 19km WSW of Olancha, CA
  13. 1.8 7km WNW of Little Lake, CA
  14. 1.6 8km WNW of Olancha, CA
  15. 1.7 11km N of Coso Junction, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.