Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.1ml
Earthquake near Bakersfield, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Bakersfield in the 24 hours to 11:41 am PST (19:41 UTC). The last one was M 2.8, 21 km (13 mi) S, at 2:35 am PDT on 29 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Bakersfield
This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 39 km (24 mi) south of Bakersfield, CA, at 6:10 am PDT on 27 March 2026 (13:10 UTC), 17 km deep.
USGS: 10 km NNW of Grapevine, CA
37 km (23 mi) S of Bakersfield, CA · 123 km (77 mi) NNW of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 6:10 am PDT on 27 March 2026 ()
- Where
- 39 km (24 mi) south of Bakersfield, CA · earthquakes near Bakersfield
- Magnitude
- M 2.1 (ml)
- Depth
- 17 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 42 km NNE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Wheeler Ridge fault, 1 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 230 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Bakersfield, 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 3 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Bakersfield, 39 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: Frazier Park, Lebec, Weedpatch, Arvin, Pine Mountain Club, Lamont.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 38 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 5.8 390,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 280,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 25× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.1 about 38 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 53,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 23 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.5 The 1952 Kern County, California Earthquake · 8 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.0 Tejon Pass, California · 16 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Bakersfield, California · 35 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.8 13km WNW of Grapevine, CA · 10 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.7 11km N of Lamont, CA · 38 km NNE 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 35.0243, -118.9770. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 42 km (26 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Ventura County, CA | 75 km (47 mi) | S | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 111 km (69 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 113 km (70 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Kings County, CA | 139 km (86 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Kings County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
57 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.3 5 km W of Frazier Park, CA
- 1.6 3 km SSE of Frazier Park, CA
- 1.5 2 km NW of Frazier Park, CA
- 1.5 8 km W of Pine Mountain Club, CA
- 1.5 2 km SE of Frazier Park, CA
- 2.5 3 km SSE of Frazier Park, CA
- 2.1 2 km SSE of Frazier Park, CA
- 2.9 2 km SSE of Frazier Park, CA
- 2.2 3 km ESE of Frazier Park, CA
- 1.9 3 km SSE of Frazier Park, CA
- 4.1 2 km ESE of Frazier Park, CA
- 1.6 16 km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.6 7 km W of Pine Mountain Club, CA
- 1.8 20 km NNW of Piru, CA
- 2.4 20 km NNW of Piru, 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.