QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Lost Hills, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Lost Hills in the 24 hours to 7:04 am PST (15:04 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 24 km (15 mi) NW, at 8:54 am PDT on 18 May 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Lost Hills

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 33 km (21 mi) west-southwest of Lost Hills, CA, at 9:52 am PDT on 25 March 2023 (16:52 UTC), 16 km deep.

USGS: 18km NNW of Simmler, CA

92 km (57 mi) W of Bakersfield, CA

9:52 am PDT, Mar 25, 2023 · · 16 km deep · released about 7.1 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Lost Hills Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Luis Obispo County 39 kmKings County 66 kmSanta Barbara County 108 kmKern County 120 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
9:52 am PDT on 25 March 2023 ()
Where
33 km (21 mi) west-southwest of Lost Hills, CA · earthquakes near Lost Hills
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
San Luis Obispo County, 39 km WSW
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, 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 1326 days ago

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

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Lost Hills, 33 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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 7.1 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.1 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 4.3 on 2019-12-17 — about 12,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.5 1922 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 33 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 45 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 1966 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 39 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 11 km NNE of Shandon, California · 38 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 5.0 11 km NNE of Shandon, California · 38 km NW 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 35.5072, -120.0390. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
San Luis Obispo County, CA 39 km (24 mi) WSW earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Kings County, CA 66 km (41 mi) NNE earthquakes near Kings County
Santa Barbara County, CA 108 km (67 mi) S earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
Kern County, CA 120 km (75 mi) E earthquakes near Kern County
Tulare County, CA 139 km (86 mi) NE earthquakes near Tulare County
Monterey County, CA 141 km (88 mi) NW earthquakes near Monterey County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 22 km SE of Simmler, CA
  2. 1.6 10 km SSE of Parkfield, CA
  3. 1.9 8 km NNW of Cholame, CA
  4. 1.8 38 km SW of Alpaugh, CA
  5. 2.9 11 km SSE of Parkfield, CA
  6. 2.5 16 km W of Simmler, CA
  7. 1.6 5 km SE of Cholame, CA
  8. 1.9 6 km SE of Cholame, CA
  9. 2.3 23 km NNW of Simmler, CA
  10. 1.7 11 km SSE of Kettleman City, CA
  11. 2.4 20 km SSE of Kettleman City, CA
  12. 2.1 27 km SSE of Kettleman City, CA
  13. 2.5 26 km SSE of Kettleman City, CA
  14. 1.5 13 km ENE of Cholame, CA
  15. 1.8 28 km S of Kettleman City, 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.