Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near Ridgecrest, CA
USGS: 16 km WSW of Johannesburg, CA
- When
- 10:58 am PDT on 29 September 2026 ()
- Where
- 37 km (23 mi) SSW of Ridgecrest, CA · earthquakes near Ridgecrest
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 6.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 85 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- Garlock fault, 9 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 3 days ago
A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 37 km (23 mi) SSW of Ridgecrest, CA, at 10:58 am PDT on 29 September 2026 (17:58 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: California City.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 12 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,300,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 900,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 80× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 12 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 5.5 on 2020-06-04 — about 470,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.3 The 1946 Walker Pass, California Earthquake · 46 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.7 12km NW of California City, California · 27 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 48 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.4 4km N of Inyokern, CA · 41 km N of this epicentre
- 5.2 8km NE of Inyokern, CA · 43 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 35.3102, -117.7985. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 85 km (53 mi) | W | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 135 km (84 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
4 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.2 6 km E of Ridgecrest, CA
- 0.6 15 km WSW of Searles Valley, CA
- 0.9 16 km WSW of Johannesburg, CA
- 1.0 12 km N of Mojave, 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.
Revisions
USGS refines a solution as more stations report. Every change we have seen is listed here.
| What changed | From | To | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| review status | automatic | reviewed | |
| longitude | -117.8 | -117.8 | |
| latitude | 35.31 | 35.31 | |
| depth | 6.08 | 6.57 | |
| longitude | -117.8 | -117.8 | |
| latitude | 35.31 | 35.31 | |
| depth | 4.99 | 6.08 | |
| magnitude | 1.86 | 1.73 |
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.