Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5md
Earthquake near Avenal, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Avenal in the 24 hours to 3:19 am PST (11:19 UTC). The last one was M 2.5, 7 km (4 mi) NW, at 12:34 am PDT on 18 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Avenal
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 38 km (24 mi) south-southeast of Avenal, CA, at 4:06 pm PST on 27 January 2022 (00:06 UTC), 5.0 km deep.
USGS: 34km S of Kettleman City, CA
89 km (55 mi) WNW of Bakersfield, CA · 59 km (37 mi) W of Delano, CA
- When
- 4:06 pm PST on 27 January 2022 ()
- Where
- 38 km (24 mi) south-southeast of Avenal, CA · earthquakes near Avenal
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (md)
- Depth
- 5.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kings County, 41 km NNE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, 23 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 1748 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Avenal, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Avenal, 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Avenal, 38 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: Lost Hills.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.2 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 6.2 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 4.3 on 2019-12-17 — about 13,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.5 1922 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 30 km W of this epicentre
- 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 42 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 1966 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 35 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.0 11 km NNE of Shandon, California · 37 km W of this epicentre
- 5.0 11 km NNE of Shandon, California · 37 km W 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 35.7093, -119.9192. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kings County, CA | 41 km (26 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Kings County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 60 km (37 mi) | SW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Kern County, CA | 115 km (71 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 118 km (73 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Fresno County, CA | 119 km (74 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Fresno County |
| San Benito County, CA | 145 km (90 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
53 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 10km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 1.9 10km N of Avenal, CA
- 2.1 8km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 1.6 9km N of Avenal, CA
- 2.2 8km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 1.5 8km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 1.8 10km N of Avenal, CA
- 2.2 10km N of Avenal, CA
- 1.9 9km N of Avenal, CA
- 3.4 8km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 1.6 9km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 1.6 10km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 1.9 14km SSE of Kettleman City, CA
- 2.0 8km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 1.7 8km NNW of Avenal, 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.