Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.0ml
Earthquake near Taft, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Taft in the 24 hours to 6:41 am PST (14:41 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 61 km (38 mi) SE, at 3:38 am PDT on 12 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 798 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Taft
This page: a magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 20 km (12 mi) west-southwest of Taft, CA, at 11:42 pm PDT on 24 September 2023 (06:42 UTC), 14 km deep. 8 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 20 km WSW of Taft, CA
65 km (40 mi) WSW of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 11:42 pm PDT on 24 September 2023 ()
- Where
- 20 km (12 mi) west-southwest of Taft, CA · earthquakes near Taft
- Magnitude
- M 3.0 (ml)
- Depth
- 14 km below the surface
- Felt
- 8 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Santa Barbara County, 67 km SSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas 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 1069 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Taft, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Taft, 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 37 km (23 mi) from the epicentre. In Taft, 20 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: Taft 20 km, intensity II · Maricopa 22 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1,100 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 300,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 13,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 9,400× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.0 about 1,100 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.0 19km NW of Grapevine, CA · 50 km E 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 35.0428, -119.6403. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 67 km (42 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 83 km (52 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Ventura County, CA | 89 km (55 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Kern County, CA | 89 km (56 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Kings County, CA | 116 km (72 mi) | N | earthquakes near Kings County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
48 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 24 km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 3.1 24 km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 2.9 23 km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 3.6 23 km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 2.6 22 km SSW of Rosedale, CA
- 3.2 24 km SW of Lamont, CA
- 2.9 25 km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 3.2 22 km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 4.6 25 km SW of Lamont, CA
- 5.2 24 km SW of Lamont, CA
- 2.3 25 km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.9 18 km N of Pine Mountain Club, CA
- 2.4 24 km SW of Lamont, CA
- 1.8 24 km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.8 25 km SW of Lamont, 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.