Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Ridgecrest, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Ridgecrest in the 24 hours to 4:38 am PST (12:38 UTC). The last one was M 1.5, 7 km (4 mi) E, at 3:54 am PST on 12 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Ridgecrest
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 38 km (23 mi) south-southwest of Ridgecrest, CA, at 11:36 pm PDT on 28 May 2026 (06:36 UTC), 7.4 km deep.
USGS: 17 km WSW of Johannesburg, CA
- When
- 11:36 pm PDT on 28 May 2026 ()
- Where
- 38 km (23 mi) south-southwest of Ridgecrest, CA · earthquakes near Ridgecrest
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 84 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- Garlock fault, 8 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 168 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Ridgecrest, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Ridgecrest, CA. No account or email needed.
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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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Ridgecrest, 38 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: California City.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.4 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 5.5 on 2020-06-04 — about 870,000 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 · 46 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.7 12km NW of California City, California · 26 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.4 14km NW of Inyokern, CA · 48 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.4 4km N of Inyokern, CA · 42 km N of this epicentre
- 5.2 8km NE of Inyokern, CA · 43 km N 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 35.3030, -117.8037. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 84 km (52 mi) | W | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 136 km (84 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Tulare County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
59 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 18 km WSW of Johannesburg, CA
- 2.9 18 km WSW of Johannesburg, CA
- 3.5 18 km WSW of Johannesburg, CA
- 1.5 5 km NW of Boron, CA
- 1.7 17 km WSW of Johannesburg, CA
- 1.7 34 km ENE of Boron, CA
- 1.7 18 km WSW of Johannesburg, CA
- 1.6 5 km NW of Boron, CA
- 2.0 14 km ENE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.5 7 km SSW of Mojave, CA
- 1.5 14 km NE of Ridgecrest, CA
- 1.7 18 km WSW of Johannesburg, CA
- 1.7 17 km WSW of Johannesburg, CA
- 2.1 18 km WSW of Johannesburg, CA
- 3.2 18 km WSW of Johannesburg, 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.