QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Bodfish, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Bodfish in the 24 hours to 7:33 am PST (15:33 UTC). The last one was M 1.7, 10 km (6 mi) SSW, at 3:38 pm PDT on 30 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Bodfish

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) southeast of Bodfish, CA, at 2:59 am PDT on 15 March 2022 (09:59 UTC), 5.2 km deep.

USGS: 13km SE of Bodfish, CA

61 km (38 mi) ENE of Bakersfield, CA

2:59 am PDT, Mar 15, 2022 · · 5.2 km deep · released about 12 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Bodfish Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kern County 36 kmTulare County 88 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
2:59 am PDT on 15 March 2022 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) southeast of Bodfish, CA · earthquakes near Bodfish
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
5.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kern County, 36 km WSW
Nearest mapped fault
Kern Canyon fault, 12 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 1700 days ago

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 Bodfish, 13 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: Lake Isabella, Weldon, Wofford Heights, Kernville, Alta Sierra.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 12 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 870,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 78× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 12 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 2,500 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 17 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 46 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 Near Bakersfield, California · 44 km WSW of this epicentre
  3. 5.7 11km N of Lamont, CA · 49 km WSW of this epicentre
  4. 5.7 12km NW of California City, California · 44 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.6 19km N of Tehachapi, CA · 24 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 35.5072, -118.3908. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kern County, CA 36 km (22 mi) WSW earthquakes near Kern County
Tulare County, CA 88 km (54 mi) NNW earthquakes near Tulare County
Inyo County, CA 147 km (91 mi) NE earthquakes near Inyo 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.

  1. 1.5 9km ESE of Bodfish, CA
  2. 3.4 12km SE of Bodfish, CA
  3. 1.5 13km SE of Bodfish, CA
  4. 2.0 13km SE of Bodfish, CA
  5. 3.8 13km SE of Bodfish, CA
  6. 3.5 22km ESE of Bodfish, CA
  7. 1.6 25km N of California City, CA
  8. 1.9 24km SE of Bodfish, CA
  9. 2.1 8km ESE of Bodfish, CA
  10. 3.5 9km ESE of Bodfish, CA
  11. 2.0 20km NW of Tehachapi, CA
  12. 1.9 7km SE of Bodfish, CA
  13. 1.5 21km ESE of Bodfish, CA
  14. 1.8 25km SSW of Bodfish, CA
  15. 1.8 25km SW 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

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