Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Tehachapi, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Tehachapi in the 24 hours to 6:27 am PST (14:27 UTC). The last one was M 4.3, 61 km (38 mi) ENE, at 9:40 am PDT on 13 July 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Tehachapi
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 26 km (16 mi) north-northwest of Tehachapi, CA, at 12:19 am PDT on 13 May 2026 (07:19 UTC), 3.7 km deep.
USGS: 26 km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
45 km (28 mi) E of Bakersfield, CA · 149 km (93 mi) N of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 12:19 am PDT on 13 May 2026 ()
- Where
- 26 km (16 mi) north-northwest of Tehachapi, CA · earthquakes near Tehachapi
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 3.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 17 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- Breckenridge fault, 3 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 183 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Tehachapi, 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 13 km (8 mi) from the epicentre. In Tehachapi, 26 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, Bodfish, Lake Isabella.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 14 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 790,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 70× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 14 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 2024-04-18 — about 6,700 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 19 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.8 Near Bakersfield, California · 25 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.7 11km N of Lamont, CA · 32 km W of this epicentre
- 5.7 12km NW of California City, California · 46 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.6 19km N of Tehachapi, CA · 9 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.6 14km NNW of Tehachapi, CA · 12 km SSE 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 35.3550, -118.5382. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 17 km (11 mi) | W | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 100 km (62 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Ventura County, CA | 123 km (77 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Kings County, CA | 140 km (87 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Kings County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
39 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.4 25 km SSW of Bodfish, CA
- 2.1 17 km NW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.1 23 km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
- 0.9 23 km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
- 0.7 18 km ESE of Bodfish, CA
- 1.3 5 km ESE of Wofford Heights, CA
- 1.0 14 km W of Mojave, CA
- 1.4 7 km SW of Mojave, CA
- 1.3 22 km NNW of Tehachapi, CA
- 1.1 13 km SE of Tehachapi, CA
- 0.8 5 km ESE of Wofford Heights, CA
- 1.5 21 km S of Bodfish, CA
- 1.0 5 km ESE of Wofford Heights, CA
- 3.1 5 km ESE of Wofford Heights, CA
- 1.0 5 km ESE of Wofford Heights, 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.