QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2ml

Earthquake near Ridgecrest, CA

Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Ridgecrest in the last 24 hours. M 1.5, 7 km (4 mi) E of Ridgecrest, at 3:54 am PST on 12 November 2026 (11:54 UTC); the estimated shaking in Ridgecrest was intensity II (weak). Every earthquake near Ridgecrest

This page: a magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 32 km (20 mi) south-southwest of Ridgecrest, CA, at 4:15 pm PST on 28 January 2026 (00:15 UTC), 6.7 km deep.

USGS: 15 km W of Johannesburg, CA

4:15 pm PST, Jan 28, 2026 · · 6.7 km deep · released about 1,700 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Ridgecrest Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kern County 84 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
4:15 pm PST on 28 January 2026 ()
Where
32 km (20 mi) south-southwest of Ridgecrest, CA · earthquakes near Ridgecrest
Magnitude
M 3.2 (ml)
Depth
6.7 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kern County, 84 km W
Nearest mapped fault
Garlock fault, 4 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 204 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 44 km (27 mi) from the epicentre. In Ridgecrest, 32 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: California City 31 km, intensity II · Ridgecrest 32 km, intensity II · Boron 42 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,700 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 9,100× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 6,500× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,700 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.7× more

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 7.1 on 2019-07-06 — about 810,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 40 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 16km NNE of Ridgecrest, California · 47 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.7 12km NW of California City, California · 29 km SW of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 42 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.4 4km N of Inyokern, CA · 36 km N 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 35.3587, -117.8035. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kern County, CA 84 km (52 mi) W earthquakes near Kern County
Tulare County, CA 131 km (81 mi) NW earthquakes near Tulare County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 5 km NW of Boron, CA
  2. 1.6 5 km NW of Boron, CA
  3. 1.9 14 km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
  4. 1.6 13 km W of Johannesburg, CA
  5. 3.2 33 km SE of Johannesburg, CA
  6. 1.8 13 km W of Johannesburg, CA
  7. 1.6 15 km SSW of Searles Valley, CA
  8. 1.7 15 km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
  9. 1.5 13 km W of Johannesburg, CA
  10. 2.0 8 km E of Ridgecrest, CA
  11. 1.7 14 km WSW of Searles Valley, CA
  12. 1.5 5 km NNW of Boron, CA
  13. 2.3 13 km WSW of Searles Valley, CA
  14. 1.8 18 km ESE of Johannesburg, CA
  15. 1.7 5 km NNW of Boron, 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.