Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.2ml
Earthquake near Kernville, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Kernville in the 24 hours to 12:54 pm PST (20:54 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 2.2 earthquake was recorded 21 km (13 mi) north of Kernville, CA, at 8:28 am PDT on 4 October 2026 (15:28 UTC), 3.3 km deep.
USGS: 21 km N of Kernville, CA
87 km (54 mi) NE of Bakersfield, CA · 57 km (35 mi) ESE of Porterville, CA
- When
- 8:28 am PDT on 4 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 21 km (13 mi) north of Kernville, CA · earthquakes near Kernville
- Magnitude
- M 2.2 (ml)
- Depth
- 3.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Tulare County, 45 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Kern Canyon 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 39 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 19 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. In Kernville, 21 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: Wofford Heights, Alta Sierra.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 67 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.2 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 230,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 160,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 14× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.2 about 67 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 4.2 on 2020-06-04 — about 790 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 49 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.2 7km ESE of Coso Junction, CA · 49 km E of this epicentre
- 5.0 5 km S of Springville, California · 40 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.0 22km WNW of Inyokern, CA · 43 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.0 23km SSW of Little Lake, CA · 40 km ESE 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 35.9453, -118.4160. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tulare County, CA | 45 km (28 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Kern County, CA | 72 km (45 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Inyo County, CA | 114 km (71 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| Fresno County, CA | 143 km (89 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Fresno County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
29 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 0.8 5 km ESE of Wofford Heights, CA
- 1.5 6 km SSE of Coso Junction, CA
- 0.6 15 km SSW of Olancha, CA
- 1.2 28 km WSW of Olancha, CA
- 0.9 8 km N of Coso Junction, CA
- 0.7 13 km S of Little Lake, CA
- 0.9 32 km NNE of Kernville, CA
- 0.9 11 km SSW of Olancha, CA
- 1.8 30 km ESE of Lake Isabella, CA
- 1.4 7 km SE of Wofford Heights, CA
- 0.8 24 km WNW of Inyokern, CA
- 2.4 11 km NE of Kernville, CA
- 1.1 7 km SSW of Olancha, CA
- 1.5 16 km WSW of Olancha, CA
- 0.7 18 km ESE of Bodfish, 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 | -118.41 | -118.42 | |
| latitude | 35.94 | 35.95 | |
| depth | -0.01 | 3.25 | |
| magnitude | 2.15 | 2.23 | |
| longitude | -118.41 | -118.41 | |
| latitude | 35.94 | 35.94 | |
| depth | -0.95 | -0.01 | |
| magnitude | 2.22 | 2.15 |
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.