QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Lost Hills, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Lost Hills in the 24 hours to 4:23 am PST (12:23 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 24 km (15 mi) NW, at 8:54 am PDT on 18 May 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Lost Hills

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) west-northwest of Lost Hills, CA, at 9:28 pm PDT on 19 September 2024 (04:28 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

USGS: 38 km SW of Alpaugh, CA

74 km (46 mi) WNW of Bakersfield, CA · 48 km (30 mi) WSW of Delano, CA

9:28 pm PDT, Sep 19, 2024 · · -0.5 km deep · released about 13 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Lost Hills Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kings County 48 kmSan Luis Obispo County 67 kmKern County 101 kmTulare County 111 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
9:28 pm PDT on 19 September 2024 ()
Where
8 km (5 mi) west-northwest of Lost Hills, CA · earthquakes near Lost Hills
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
-0.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kings County, 48 km N
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 783 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 Lost Hills, 8 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: Lost Hills 8 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 810,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 72× the energy of this one
  4. 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 2016-02-24 — about 46,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.5 1922 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 44 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 1966 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 49 km WNW 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 35.6455, -119.7780. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kings County, CA 48 km (30 mi) N earthquakes near Kings County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 67 km (42 mi) WSW earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Kern County, CA 101 km (62 mi) ESE earthquakes near Kern County
Tulare County, CA 111 km (69 mi) NE earthquakes near Tulare County
San Benito County, CA 159 km (99 mi) NW earthquakes near San Benito County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 7 km E of Avenal, CA
  2. 2.1 19 km ESE of Kettleman City, CA
  3. 1.6 11 km E of Simmler, CA
  4. 1.8 24 km SSE of Kettleman City, CA
  5. 2.2 17 km SSW of Kettleman City, CA
  6. 2.4 26 km SSE of Kettleman City, CA
  7. 1.8 1 km NNE of Kettleman City, CA
  8. 2.1 11 km SSE of Kettleman City, CA
  9. 3.3 11 km SW of Buttonwillow, CA
  10. 2.0 7 km WNW of Kettleman City, CA
  11. 1.6 4 km S of Avenal, CA
  12. 1.7 4 km SSW of Avenal, CA
  13. 2.3 17 km S of Kettleman City, CA
  14. 1.8 17 km E of Kettleman City, CA
  15. 2.7 19 km S of Kettleman City, 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.