QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.4ml

Earthquake near Maricopa, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Maricopa in the 24 hours to 6:45 am PST (14:45 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 51 km (32 mi) ESE, at 3:38 am PDT on 12 July 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 798 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Maricopa

This page: a magnitude 1.4 earthquake was recorded 20 km (12 mi) northeast of Maricopa, CA, at 2:02 pm PDT on 29 October 2026 (21:02 UTC), 24 km deep.

USGS: 20 km NE of Maricopa, CA

27 km (17 mi) SW of Bakersfield, CA · 147 km (92 mi) NNW of Los Angeles, CA

2:02 pm PDT, Oct 29, 2026 · · 24 km deep · released about 3.5 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Kern County 49 kmVentura County 90 kmSanta Barbara County 102 kmSan Luis Obispo County 114 kmKings County 114 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
2:02 pm PDT on 29 October 2026 ()
Where
20 km (12 mi) northeast of Maricopa, CA · earthquakes near Maricopa
Magnitude
M 1.4 (ml)
Depth
24 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Kern County, 49 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
Wheeler Ridge fault, 19 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 14 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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: Ford City, Taft, South Taft, Taft Heights, Rosedale, Greenacres.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 3.5 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 4,300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 3,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 270× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.4 about 3.5 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 580,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 20 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.5 The 1952 Kern County, California Earthquake · 31 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 Tejon Pass, California · 41 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 Near Bakersfield, California · 41 km ENE of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 13km WNW of Grapevine, CA · 25 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.7 11km N of Lamont, CA · 37 km NE 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 35.1623, -119.2240. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Kern County, CA 49 km (31 mi) ENE earthquakes near Kern County
Ventura County, CA 90 km (56 mi) S earthquakes near Ventura County
Santa Barbara County, CA 102 km (63 mi) SW earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 114 km (71 mi) WNW earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Kings County, CA 114 km (71 mi) NNW earthquakes near Kings County
Tulare County, CA 125 km (78 mi) NNE earthquakes near Tulare County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

5 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.6 16 km SW of Lamont, CA
  2. 1.2 5 km W of Grapevine, CA
  3. 1.4 23 km E of Maricopa, CA
  4. 1.6 6 km WNW of Grapevine, CA
  5. 1.6 14 km WNW of Grapevine, 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.

Revisions

USGS refines a solution as more stations report. Every change we have seen is listed here.

What changedFromToWhen
review statusautomaticreviewed
location19 km NE of Maricopa, CA20 km NE of Maricopa, CA
longitude-119.23-119.22
latitude35.1635.16
depth23.9324.07
magnitude1.451.38
location19 km ENE of Maricopa, CA19 km NE of Maricopa, CA
longitude-119.22-119.23
latitude35.1535.16
depth25.2623.93
magnitude1.571.45

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.