QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6ml

Earthquake near Maricopa, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Maricopa in the 24 hours to 7:02 am PST (15:02 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 51 km (32 mi) ESE, at 3:38 am PDT on 12 July 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 798 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Maricopa

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 25 km (15 mi) east-northeast of Maricopa, CA, at 6:27 am PDT on 7 August 2024 (13:27 UTC), 12 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 25 km ENE of Maricopa, CA

29 km (18 mi) SSW of Bakersfield, CA · 138 km (86 mi) NNW of Los Angeles, CA

6:27 am PDT, Aug 7, 2024 · · 12 km deep · released about 250 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kern County 46 kmVentura County 83 kmSanta Barbara County 104 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
6:27 am PDT on 7 August 2024 ()
Where
25 km (15 mi) east-northeast of Maricopa, CA · earthquakes near Maricopa
Magnitude
M 2.6 (ml)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Kern County, 46 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
Wheeler Ridge fault, 10 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 749 days ago

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 21 km (13 mi) from the epicentre. In Maricopa, 25 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Weedpatch, Lamont, Pine Mountain Club, South Taft, Taft, Ford City.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 250 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 61,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 43,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.8× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 250 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 5.2 on 2024-08-07 — about 8,200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 22 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.5 The 1952 Kern County, California Earthquake · 21 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 Tejon Pass, California · 31 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 Near Bakersfield, California · 37 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 13km WNW of Grapevine, CA · 16 km SSE of this epicentre
  5. 5.7 11km N of Lamont, CA · 36 km NE 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 35.1042, -119.1353. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kern County, CA 46 km (28 mi) NE earthquakes near Kern County
Ventura County, CA 83 km (52 mi) S earthquakes near Ventura County
Santa Barbara County, CA 104 km (65 mi) SW earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 123 km (77 mi) WNW earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Kings County, CA 124 km (77 mi) NNW earthquakes near Kings County
Los Angeles County, CA 129 km (80 mi) SE earthquakes near Los Angeles County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 24 km NW of Grapevine, CA
  2. 1.7 23 km NW of Grapevine, CA
  3. 2.2 23 km NW of Grapevine, CA
  4. 3.1 25 km E of Maricopa, CA
  5. 1.8 23 km E of Maricopa, CA
  6. 1.5 24 km NW of Grapevine, CA
  7. 1.6 20 km NW of Grapevine, CA
  8. 1.7 20 km NW of Grapevine, CA
  9. 2.2 23 km SW of Lamont, CA
  10. 2.0 22 km NW of Grapevine, CA
  11. 1.9 22 km NW of Grapevine, CA
  12. 1.9 22 km NW of Grapevine, CA
  13. 2.8 19 km NW of Grapevine, CA
  14. 1.6 21 km NW of Grapevine, CA
  15. 1.6 21 km NW of Grapevine, 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.