Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Bodfish, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Bodfish in the 24 hours to 5:58 am PST (13:58 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) south-southeast of Bodfish, CA, at 3:29 am PST on 20 December 2023 (11:29 UTC), 7.8 km deep.
USGS: 6 km SSE of Bodfish, CA
55 km (34 mi) ENE of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 3:29 am PST on 20 December 2023 ()
- Where
- 6 km (4 mi) south-southeast of Bodfish, CA · earthquakes near Bodfish
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 32 km SW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Kern Canyon fault, 4 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 1058 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Bodfish, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Bodfish, CA. No account or email needed.
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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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Bodfish, 6 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.
Likely felt in: Bodfish 6 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.6 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 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 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 4,000 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 · 40 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.7 11km N of Lamont, CA · 43 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.6 19km N of Tehachapi, CA · 26 km S of this epicentre
- 5.6 14km NNW of Tehachapi, CA · 32 km S of this epicentre
- 5.5 22km N of Tehachapi, CA · 23 km S 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 35.5387, -118.4725. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 32 km (20 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 82 km (51 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Inyo County, CA | 149 km (93 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Inyo County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 11 km SSW of Bodfish, CA
- 3.2 11 km SSW of Bodfish, CA
- 1.5 11 km SSW of Bodfish, CA
- 2.2 11 km SSW of Bodfish, CA
- 1.9 11 km SSW of Bodfish, CA
- 2.5 11 km S of Bodfish, CA
- 2.1 11 km SSW of Bodfish, CA
- 1.7 11 km S of Bodfish, CA
- 1.9 11 km S of Bodfish, CA
- 1.7 11 km S of Bodfish, CA
- 4.3 11 km S of Bodfish, CA
- 1.6 25 km NE of Lamont, CA
- 1.6 14 km ESE of Wofford Heights, CA
- 1.7 24 km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.5 16 km ESE of Lake Isabella, 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.