Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Bakersfield, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Bakersfield in the 24 hours to 4:54 am PST (12:54 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 21 km (13 mi) S, at 2:35 am PDT on 29 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Bakersfield
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 50 km (31 mi) south of Bakersfield, CA, at 11:36 am PDT on 2 May 2022 (18:36 UTC), 9.0 km deep.
USGS: 9km WSW of Grapevine, CA
48 km (30 mi) S of Bakersfield, CA · 116 km (72 mi) NNW of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 11:36 am PDT on 2 May 2022 ()
- Where
- 50 km (31 mi) south of Bakersfield, CA · earthquakes near Bakersfield
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 9.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 54 km NNE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Pleito fault, 5 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 1655 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Bakersfield, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Bakersfield, CA. No account or email needed.
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 5 km (3 mi) from the epicentre. In Bakersfield, 50 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Frazier Park, Pine Mountain Club, Lebec.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.9 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,800,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 160× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.9 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 4.1 on 2016-03-12 — about 7,900 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 21 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.5 The 1952 Kern County, California Earthquake · 5 km NE of this epicentre
- 6.0 Tejon Pass, California · 12 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Bakersfield, California · 47 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.8 13km WNW of Grapevine, CA · 6 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.7 11km N of Lamont, CA · 50 km NNE 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 34.9245, -119.0305. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 54 km (34 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Ventura County, CA | 64 km (40 mi) | S | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 102 km (63 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 107 km (67 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
39 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 14km NNE of Ojai, CA
- 1.8 12km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.9 13km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.6 13km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.8 11km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.6 14km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.5 13km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 2.0 14km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 3.7 13km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.9 15km NE of Ojai, CA
- 1.8 6km NW of Pine Mountain Club, CA
- 1.8 13km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.7 12km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.7 12km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 2.0 3km W of Lebec, 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.