Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.1ml
Earthquake near Tehachapi, CA
Yes. A magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 17 km (11 mi) northwest of Tehachapi, CA, at 3:54 pm PDT on 19 October 2026 (22:54 UTC), 7.9 km deep. 3 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 17 km NW of Tehachapi, CA
42 km (26 mi) ESE of Bakersfield, CA · 136 km (85 mi) N of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 3:54 pm PDT on 19 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 17 km (11 mi) northwest of Tehachapi, CA · earthquakes near Tehachapi
- Magnitude
- M 2.1 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- 3 reports · strongest reported intensity II
- Nearest
- Kern County, 17 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- White Wolf 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 21 hours ago
Earthquake alerts for Tehachapi, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Tehachapi, CA. No account or email needed.
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 16 km (10 mi) from the epicentre. In Tehachapi, 17 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: Bear Valley Springs, Golden Hills, Stallion Springs, Arvin, Weedpatch, Lamont.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 46 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 330,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 230,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 21× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.1 about 46 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 45,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 27 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.5 The 1952 Kern County, California Earthquake · 48 km SW of this epicentre
- 6.0 Tejon Pass, California · 47 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Bakersfield, California · 20 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.7 11km N of Lamont, CA · 31 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.7 12km NW of California City, California · 48 km E 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 35.2353, -118.5933. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 17 km (11 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Ventura County, CA | 109 km (68 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Tulare County, CA | 112 km (69 mi) | N | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 119 km (74 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Kings County, CA | 144 km (90 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Kings County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
No further earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| felt reports | 2 | 3 | |
| review status | automatic | reviewed | |
| location | 18 km NW of Tehachapi, CA | 17 km NW of Tehachapi, CA | |
| longitude | -118.6 | -118.59 | |
| latitude | 35.24 | 35.24 | |
| depth | 7.44 | 7.93 | |
| magnitude | 1.99 | 2.12 | |
| reported intensity | not reported | 2.2 | |
| felt reports | not reported | 2 | |
| longitude | -118.6 | -118.6 | |
| latitude | 35.24 | 35.24 | |
| depth | 7.52 | 7.44 |
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.