QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Delano, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Delano in the 24 hours to 11:23 am PST (19:23 UTC). The last one was M 4.6, 74 km (46 mi) S, at 9:10 pm PDT on 6 August 2024, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 253 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Delano

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 22 km (13 mi) east-northeast of Delano, CA, at 7:28 pm PDT on 4 June 2023 (02:28 UTC), 16 km deep.

USGS: 22km ENE of Delano, CA

53 km (33 mi) N of Bakersfield, CA · 23 km (14 mi) ENE of Delano, CA

7:28 pm PDT, Jun 4, 2023 · · 16 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Tulare County 49 kmKern County 60 kmKings County 76 kmFresno County 118 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
7:28 pm PDT on 4 June 2023 ()
Where
22 km (13 mi) east-northeast of Delano, CA · earthquakes near Delano
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
16 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Tulare County, 49 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1256 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Delano, 22 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: Richgrove, Terra Bella, Earlimart, East Porterville, McFarland, Teviston.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.4 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 4.9 on 2016-02-24 — about 110,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.0 30 km ENE of Bakersfield, California · 47 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 5.0 5 km S of Springville, California · 32 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.0 25 km SSW of Posey, California · 33 km SE 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 35.8318, -119.0205. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Tulare County, CA 49 km (31 mi) NNE earthquakes near Tulare County
Kern County, CA 60 km (37 mi) SSE earthquakes near Kern County
Kings County, CA 76 km (47 mi) WNW earthquakes near Kings County
Fresno County, CA 118 km (73 mi) NNW earthquakes near Fresno County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

19 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.6 29 km NW of Kernville, CA
  2. 2.5 29 km ENE of Porterville, CA
  3. 2.1 6 km ENE of Rosedale, CA
  4. 1.7 10 km SW of Wasco, CA
  5. 2.0 4 km SE of Delano, CA
  6. 1.8 6 km SSW of Wasco, CA
  7. 1.7 7 km NNE of Porterville, CA
  8. 1.9 7 km N of Delano, CA
  9. 1.8 6 km SSW of Wasco, CA
  10. 1.6 12 km NW of Kernville, CA
  11. 1.6 3 km ENE of Rosedale, CA
  12. 1.9 34 km ENE of Porterville, CA
  13. 1.8 7 km NNW of Delano, CA
  14. 2.4 28 km ENE of Porterville, CA
  15. 1.6 17 km E of Delano, 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.