Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Kernville, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Kernville in the 24 hours to 3:08 am PST (11:08 UTC). The last one was M 2.4, 11 km (7 mi) NE, at 9:35 am PDT on 21 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Kernville
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 46 km (29 mi) north-northeast of Kernville, CA, at 1:46 pm PDT on 4 July 2026 (20:46 UTC), 8.0 km deep.
USGS: 28 km WSW of Olancha, CA
- When
- 1:46 pm PDT on 4 July 2026 ()
- Where
- 46 km (29 mi) north-northeast of Kernville, CA · earthquakes near Kernville
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Tulare County, 46 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- Kern Canyon fault, 14 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 130 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Kernville, CA
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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 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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Kernville, 46 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 8.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.7 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 5.8 on 2020-06-24 — about 1,700,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.2 7km ESE of Coso Junction, CA · 39 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.2 18km NE of Olancha, CA · 46 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.0 23km SSW of Little Lake, CA · 49 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.0 18km NE of Olancha, CA · 46 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 36.1513, -118.2782. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tulare County, CA | 46 km (29 mi) | W | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Inyo County, CA | 91 km (56 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| Kern County, CA | 98 km (61 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Kern County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
59 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 10 km ENE of Coso Junction, CA
- 1.6 9 km NE of Coso Junction, CA
- 1.6 9 km ENE of Coso Junction, CA
- 2.0 10 km ENE of Coso Junction, CA
- 1.7 9 km ENE of Coso Junction, CA
- 1.9 9 km ENE of Coso Junction, CA
- 1.9 10 km ENE of Coso Junction, CA
- 1.6 10 km ENE of Coso Junction, CA
- 1.8 9 km ENE of Coso Junction, CA
- 1.6 9 km ENE of Coso Junction, CA
- 2.0 9 km E of Coso Junction, CA
- 2.1 10 km ENE of Coso Junction, CA
- 1.9 10 km ENE of Coso Junction, CA
- 2.0 10 km ENE of Coso Junction, CA
- 1.6 10 km ENE of Coso Junction, 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.