Earthquake near Kettleman City, CA

USGS: 23 km SE of Kettleman City, California

50 km (31 mi) W of Delano, CA · 105 km (65 mi) S of Fresno, CA

7:19 am PDT, Sep 12, 2016 · 2016-09-12 14:19 UTC · 6.2 km deep · released about 23 lb of TNT

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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: 7:19 am PDT on 12 September 2016 (2016-09-12 14:19 UTC)
Where: 23 km (15 mi) SE of Kettleman City, CA · earthquakes near Kettleman City
Magnitude: M 1.9 (md)
Depth: 6.2 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Kings County, 26 km N
Nearest mapped fault: Great Valley thrust fault system, 21 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 3521 days ago · we first saw it 3521 days ago

A magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 23 km (15 mi) SE of Kettleman City, CA, at 7:19 am PDT on 12 September 2016 (14:19 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Lost Hills, Alpaugh.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 23 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 660,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 470,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 42× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 1.9 about 23 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

6.5 1922 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 41 km WSW of this epicentre Mar 10, 1922
5.6 8 km SW of Huron, California · 46 km NW of this epicentre Aug 4, 1985
5.5 1966 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 44 km W of this epicentre Jun 28, 1966
5.0 11 km NNE of Shandon, California · 48 km WSW of this epicentre Mar 16, 1922
5.0 11 km NNE of Shandon, California · 48 km WSW of this epicentre Aug 18, 1922

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

Map loads when it scrolls into view

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
Kings County, CA	26 km (16 mi)	N	earthquakes near Kings County
San Luis Obispo County, CA	77 km (48 mi)	SW	earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Tulare County, CA	102 km (63 mi)	ENE	earthquakes near Tulare County
Fresno County, CA	103 km (64 mi)	N	earthquakes near Fresno County
Kern County, CA	112 km (69 mi)	ESE	earthquakes near Kern County
San Benito County, CA	143 km (89 mi)	NW	earthquakes near San Benito County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1.9 3 km SE of Avenal, California 07:00 UTC
1.5 3 km SE of Avenal, California 06:44 UTC
1.7 3 km SSE of Avenal, California 16:01 UTC
1.5 6 km NW of Avenal, California 13:43 UTC
2.1 12 km SW of Huron, California 20:05 UTC
1.9 3 km S of Avenal, California 17:54 UTC
1.6 3 km SSE of Avenal, California 16:53 UTC
1.9 12 km SW of Huron, California 19:32 UTC
1.5 10km NNE of Simmler, CA 15:00 UTC
2.3 7km NNW of Delano, CA 20:09 UTC
2.4 4 km SW of Stratford, California 05:21 UTC
1.9 24 km S of Kettleman City, California 06:59 UTC
1.6 3 km SSE of Avenal, California 20:20 UTC
1.5 2 km SE of Avenal, California 15:00 UTC
2.8 1 km SSE of Avenal, California 21:39 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 02:54 UTC. 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.