Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6md
Earthquake near Avenal, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Avenal in the 24 hours to 1:11 pm PST (21:11 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 37 km (23 mi) southeast of Avenal, CA, at 8:04 am PDT on 15 March 2023 (15:04 UTC), 10 km deep.
USGS: 32km S of Kettleman City, CA
88 km (55 mi) WNW of Bakersfield, CA · 57 km (36 mi) W of Delano, CA
- When
- 8:04 am PDT on 15 March 2023 ()
- Where
- 37 km (23 mi) southeast of Avenal, CA · earthquakes near Avenal
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (md)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kings County, 39 km N
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1336 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 3 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Avenal, 37 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 6.6 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 2,300,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.6 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 12,000 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 · 32 km W of this epicentre
- 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 43 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 1966 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 36 km W of this epicentre
- 5.0 11 km NNE of Shandon, California · 39 km W of this epicentre
- 5.0 11 km NNE of Shandon, California · 39 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 35.7280, -119.8990. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kings County, CA | 39 km (24 mi) | N | earthquakes near Kings County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 62 km (39 mi) | SW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Kern County, CA | 114 km (71 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 115 km (71 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Fresno County, CA | 117 km (73 mi) | N | 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
42 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 10 km SSE of Kettleman City, CA
- 2.4 7 km NW of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.9 6 km NW of Kettleman City, CA
- 2.4 8 km NW of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.9 6 km NNW of Cholame, CA
- 1.6 8 km NW of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.7 8 km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 2.3 5 km SSE of Parkfield, CA
- 1.7 2 km E of Kettleman City, CA
- 2.4 8 km SE of Parkfield, CA
- 1.7 6 km NNW of Cholame, CA
- 1.7 2 km S of Avenal, CA
- 1.9 2 km SE of Avenal, CA
- 2.9 2 km SSE of Avenal, CA
- 1.8 25 km SW of Alpaugh, 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.