14km SSW of Tehachapi, CA

2023-03-23 05:54 UTC · 8.5 km deep · released about 16 lb of TNT

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: 2023-03-23 05:54 UTC
Magnitude: M 1.8 (ml)
Depth: 8.5 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Kern County, 43 km NNW
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 1284 days ago · we first saw it 1284 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 16 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 5.8 930,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 660,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 59× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 1.8 about 16 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.

Where

Map loads when it scrolls into view

Epicentre 35.0088, -118.4973. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction
Kern County, CA	43 km (27 mi)	SSE of here	earthquakes near Kern County
Ventura County, CA	93 km (58 mi)	NE of here	earthquakes near Ventura County
Los Angeles County, CA	93 km (58 mi)	NNW of here	earthquakes near Los Angeles County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1.7 9 km WSW of Grapevine, CA 16:22 UTC
2.0 32 km SE of Bodfish, CA 03:53 UTC
1.7 8 km SE of Tehachapi, CA 22:41 UTC
2.4 25 km SSW of Bodfish, CA 18:08 UTC
1.8 7 km SSE of Neenach, CA 10:32 UTC
1.5 8 km S of Mojave, CA 18:53 UTC
1.7 13 km W of Mojave, CA 00:42 UTC
1.7 7 km NNW of Rosamond, CA 19:01 UTC
1.7 13 km SE of Tehachapi, CA 18:40 UTC
1.7 25 km SW of Bodfish, CA 09:23 UTC
3.0 9 km WSW of Grapevine, CA 17:03 UTC
2.1 24 km NNW of Tehachapi, CA 16:46 UTC
1.7 26 km SSW of Bodfish, CA 07:05 UTC
1.9 2 km NW of Frazier Park, CA 03:57 UTC
1.6 8 km S of Mojave, CA 18:56 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 17:53 UTC. 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.