Earthquake near Barstow, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Barstow in the 24 hours to 6:26 am PST (14:26 UTC). The last one was M 1.8, 3 km (2 mi) NNW, at 3:18 pm PDT on 17 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Barstow

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 38 km (24 mi) northwest of Barstow, CA, at 10:03 pm PDT on 23 August 2024 (05:03 UTC), 2.1 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 38 km NW of Barstow, CA

10:03 pm PDT, Aug 23, 2024 · 2024-08-24 05:03 UTC · 2.1 km deep · released about 13 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Barstow Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area

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: 10:03 pm PDT on 23 August 2024 (2024-08-24 05:03 UTC)
Where: 38 km (24 mi) northwest of Barstow, CA · earthquakes near Barstow
Magnitude: M 1.8 (ml)
Depth: 2.1 km below the surface
Felt: 1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest: San Bernardino County, 104 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault: Blackwater fault, 6 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 809 days ago · we first saw it 809 days ago

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 13 km (8 mi) from the epicentre. In Barstow, 38 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 13 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,100,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 810,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 72× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 1.8 about 13 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 2024-07-29 — about 46,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

5.3 20km ENE of Barstow, California · 46 km ESE of this epicentre Mar 18, 1997

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

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Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
San Bernardino County, CA	104 km (65 mi)	ESE	earthquakes near San Bernardino County
Los Angeles County, CA	143 km (89 mi)	SW	earthquakes near Los Angeles County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 14:26 UTC. 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.