Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7md
Earthquake near Lost Hills, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Lost Hills in the 24 hours to 8:34 am PST (16:34 UTC). The last one was M 3.0, 24 km (15 mi) NW, at 8:54 am PDT on 18 May 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Lost Hills
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 36 km (23 mi) west-southwest of Lost Hills, CA, at 2:31 pm PDT on 23 July 2018 (21:31 UTC), 14 km deep.
USGS: 23km NNW of Simmler, CA
97 km (60 mi) WNW of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 2:31 pm PDT on 23 July 2018 ()
- Where
- 36 km (23 mi) west-southwest of Lost Hills, CA · earthquakes near Lost Hills
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (md)
- Depth
- 14 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Luis Obispo County, 37 km WSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, under 1 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 3032 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Lost Hills, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Lost Hills, CA. No account or email needed.
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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Lost Hills, 36 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: Shandon.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 9.3 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 100× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 9.3 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 · 27 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 40 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.5 1966 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 33 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.0 11 km NNE of Shandon, California · 32 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.0 11 km NNE of Shandon, California · 32 km NW 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 35.5437, -120.0853. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 37 km (23 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Kings County, CA | 64 km (40 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 112 km (70 mi) | S | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Monterey County, CA | 135 km (84 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Monterey County |
| Tulare County, CA | 140 km (87 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| San Benito County, CA | 149 km (93 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
40 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 7km E of Atascadero, CA
- 1.6 2km S of Parkfield, CA
- 1.9 12km SE of Kettleman City, CA
- 3.5 4km SSE of Parkfield, CA
- 1.6 7km E of Atascadero, CA
- 1.6 10km NNW of Cholame, CA
- 2.2 2km NE of Cholame, CA
- 1.7 6km NNE of Santa Margarita, CA
- 2.9 10km NNW of Cholame, CA
- 1.9 16km S of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.5 15km SE of Shandon, CA
- 1.9 30km E of Cholame, CA
- 1.8 24km SE of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.8 23km SE of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.9 10km N of Simmler, 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.