Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.4ml
Earthquake near Kernville, CA
Yes. A magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) northeast of Kernville, CA, at 9:35 am PDT on 21 October 2026 (16:35 UTC), 12 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 11 km NE of Kernville, CA
81 km (51 mi) NE of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 9:35 am PDT on 21 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 11 km (7 mi) northeast of Kernville, CA · earthquakes near Kernville
- Magnitude
- M 2.4 (ml)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- 2 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Tulare County, 58 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Kern Canyon fault, 6 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 7 hours ago
Earthquake alerts for Kernville, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Kernville, 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 17 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Kernville, 11 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: Kernville 11 km, intensity II · Wofford Heights 17 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 110 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 130,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 95,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 8.5× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.4 about 110 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 4.3 on 2019-07-06 — about 840 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 · 40 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 40 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.2 7km ESE of Coso Junction, CA · 48 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.0 30 km ENE of Bakersfield, California · 48 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.0 25 km SSW of Posey, California · 48 km WSW 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 35.8327, -118.3575. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tulare County, CA | 58 km (36 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Kern County, CA | 64 km (40 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Inyo County, CA | 118 km (73 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Inyo County |
| Fresno County, CA | 155 km (97 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Fresno 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 | 1 | 2 | |
| review status | automatic | reviewed | |
| longitude | -118.36 | -118.36 | |
| depth | 11.89 | 12.15 | |
| magnitude | 2.52 | 2.38 | |
| reported intensity | not reported | 3.1 | |
| felt reports | not reported | 1 | |
| longitude | -118.35 | -118.36 | |
| latitude | 35.83 | 35.83 | |
| depth | 11.22 | 11.89 | |
| magnitude | 2.77 | 2.52 |
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.