Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near Oildale, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Oildale in the 24 hours to 7:47 am PST (15:47 UTC). The last one was M 4.3, 110 km (68 mi) E, at 9:40 am PDT on 13 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Oildale
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 18 km (11 mi) northeast of Oildale, CA, at 11:34 am PDT on 7 May 2023 (18:34 UTC), 12 km deep.
USGS: 18km NE of Oildale, CA
25 km (16 mi) NNE of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 11:34 am PDT on 7 May 2023 ()
- Where
- 18 km (11 mi) northeast of Oildale, CA · earthquakes near Oildale
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 28 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Kern Front fault, 13 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 1284 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Oildale, 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 4 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Oildale, 18 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: Bakersfield, Greenacres, Rosedale.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 10 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 92× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 10 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 4.9 on 2016-02-24 — about 59,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 15 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.8 Near Bakersfield, California · 30 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.7 11km N of Lamont, CA · 22 km S of this epicentre
- 5.6 19km N of Tehachapi, CA · 48 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.6 14km NNW of Tehachapi, CA · 50 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.5 6km SSE of Arvin, CA · 44 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 35.5517, -118.9038. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 28 km (17 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 76 km (47 mi) | N | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Kings County, CA | 101 km (62 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 153 km (95 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
50 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.6 5 km SE of Oildale, CA
- 1.7 16 km ESE of Arvin, CA
- 1.5 12 km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.6 13 km SE of Bodfish, CA
- 2.0 23 km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.5 8 km E of Bakersfield, CA
- 1.9 5 km ESE of Wofford Heights, CA
- 1.8 5 km ESE of Wofford Heights, CA
- 3.5 25 km SSW of Bodfish, CA
- 1.7 19 km NW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.6 24 km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.6 15 km SW of Lamont, CA
- 1.6 6 km SSE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.6 6 km SSE of Bodfish, CA
- 2.0 12 km 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.