Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Tehachapi, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Tehachapi in the 24 hours to 7:14 am PST (15:14 UTC). The last one was M 4.3, 61 km (38 mi) ENE, at 9:40 am PDT on 13 July 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Tehachapi
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 21 km (13 mi) north-northwest of Tehachapi, CA, at 6:52 am PDT on 28 April 2023 (13:52 UTC), 7.2 km deep.
USGS: 21km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
46 km (28 mi) E of Bakersfield, CA · 144 km (89 mi) N of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 6:52 am PDT on 28 April 2023 ()
- Where
- 21 km (13 mi) north-northwest of Tehachapi, CA · earthquakes near Tehachapi
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 18 km WNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Breckenridge fault, 7 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 1294 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Tehachapi, CA
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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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Tehachapi, 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, Golden Hills, Stallion Springs, Arvin.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 8.4 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.4 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 3,600 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 20 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.8 Near Bakersfield, California · 24 km W of this epicentre
- 5.7 11km N of Lamont, CA · 33 km W of this epicentre
- 5.7 12km NW of California City, California · 44 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.6 19km N of Tehachapi, CA · 6 km E of this epicentre
- 5.6 14km NNW of Tehachapi, CA · 7 km SSE 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 35.3058, -118.5392. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 18 km (11 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 105 km (65 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Ventura County, CA | 118 km (74 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Kings County, CA | 143 km (89 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Kings 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.
- 1.9 9 km WNW of Mojave, CA
- 1.5 12 km SE of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.8 8 km SSW of Mojave, CA
- 1.5 23km SSW of Bodfish, CA
- 1.6 20km ENE of Arvin, CA
- 1.6 19km NW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.8 16km SSW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.6 6 km SSW of Mojave, CA
- 1.5 17km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.6 16km SSW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.6 13km ESE of Tehachapi, CA
- 2.2 16km SSW of Tehachapi, CA
- 2.3 16km SSW of Tehachapi, CA
- 3.4 16km SSW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.8 12km 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.