Earthquake near Kettleman City, CA

A magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 25 km (15 mi) S of Kettleman City, CA, at 10:59 pm PST on 23 December 2016 (06:59 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 19 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.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 810,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 580,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 51× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 19 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 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.5 1922 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 31 km W of this epicentre Mar 10, 1922
2. 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 41 km W of this epicentre Sep 28, 2004
3. 5.6 8 km SW of Huron, California · 45 km NNW of this epicentre Aug 4, 1985
4. 5.5 1966 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 34 km W of this epicentre Jun 28, 1966
5. 5.0 11 km NNE of Shandon, California · 38 km W of this epicentre Mar 16, 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

Epicentre 35.7877, -119.9127. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 1.5 12 km NW of Avenal, California 23:15 UTC
2. 1.5 11 km NW of Avenal, California 22:57 UTC
3. 2.5 12 km NW of Avenal, California 22:46 UTC
4. 2.8 12 km NW of Avenal, California 22:23 UTC
5. 1.6 12 km NW of Avenal, California 20:20 UTC
6. 1.5 12 km NW of Avenal, California 16:38 UTC
7. 1.5 12 km ESE of Coalinga, California 16:17 UTC
8. 1.6 12 km SW of Huron, California 16:01 UTC
9. 2.6 12 km NW of Avenal, California 15:52 UTC
10. 3.3 13 km NW of Avenal, California 15:50 UTC
11. 1.5 13 km SSW of Kettleman City, California 07:12 UTC
12. 2.3 15 km SSE of Avenal, California 03:36 UTC
13. 1.9 15 km SSE of Avenal, California 23:32 UTC
14. 1.8 Central California 20:26 UTC
15. 1.9 15 km SSE of Avenal, California 20:06 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 03:27 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.