Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Kettleman City, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Kettleman City in the 24 hours to 4:32 am PST (12:32 UTC). The last one was M 2.0, 13 km (8 mi) S, at 5:43 pm PST on 3 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Kettleman City
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 20 km (12 mi) east-southeast of Kettleman City, CA, at 8:48 am PST on 18 January 2022 (16:48 UTC), 8.9 km deep.
USGS: 20km ESE of Kettleman City, CA
91 km (56 mi) S of Fresno, CA · 41 km (25 mi) SSW of Hanford, CA
- When
- 8:48 am PST on 18 January 2022 ()
- Where
- 20 km (12 mi) east-southeast of Kettleman City, CA · earthquakes near Kettleman City
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 8.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kings County, 13 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Great Valley thrust fault system, 17 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 1754 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Kettleman City, CA
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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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Kettleman City, 20 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). 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: Corcoran, Alpaugh, Stratford.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 9 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 9 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 4.0 on 2018-11-27 — about 3,300 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.6 8 km SW of Huron, California · 42 km WNW 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 35.9688, -119.7448. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kings County, CA | 13 km (8 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Fresno County, CA | 88 km (55 mi) | N | earthquakes near Fresno County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 91 km (56 mi) | SW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Tulare County, CA | 91 km (57 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Kern County, CA | 115 km (71 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Kern County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
57 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 10km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 1.9 14km SSE of Kettleman City, CA
- 2.0 8km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 2.0 11km S of Home Garden, CA
- 1.7 8km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 1.8 11km ENE of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.7 22km SE of Kettleman City, CA
- 2.4 12km E of Coalinga, CA
- 1.6 12km E of Coalinga, CA
- 1.6 11km E of Coalinga, CA
- 2.1 16km SE of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.6 21km S of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.6 20km S of Kettleman City, CA
- 3.0 24km S of Kettleman City, CA
- 2.1 24km S of Kettleman City, 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.