Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.1md
Earthquake near Kettleman City, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Kettleman City in the 24 hours to 1:23 am PST (09:23 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 2.1 earthquake was recorded 27 km (17 mi) south-southeast of Kettleman City, CA, at 5:24 am PST on 27 January 2024 (13:24 UTC), 5.6 km deep.
USGS: 27 km SSE of Kettleman City, CA
54 km (33 mi) W of Delano, CA · 112 km (69 mi) S of Fresno, CA
- When
- 5:24 am PST on 27 January 2024 ()
- Where
- 27 km (17 mi) south-southeast of Kettleman City, CA · earthquakes near Kettleman City
- Magnitude
- M 2.1 (md)
- Depth
- 5.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kings County, 33 km N
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1012 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 17 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Kettleman City, 27 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: Lost Hills.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 51 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 300,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 210,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 19× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.1 about 51 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 1,600 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.5 1922 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 35 km W of this epicentre
- 6.0 2004 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 46 km W of this epicentre
- 5.6 8 km SW of Huron, California · 48 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 1966 Parkfield, California Earthquake · 39 km W of this epicentre
- 5.0 11 km NNE of Shandon, California · 43 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 35.7807, -119.8595. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kings County, CA | 33 km (20 mi) | N | earthquakes near Kings County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 69 km (43 mi) | SW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Tulare County, CA | 109 km (68 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Fresno County, CA | 111 km (69 mi) | N | earthquakes near Fresno County |
| Kern County, CA | 113 km (70 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Kern County |
| San Benito County, CA | 144 km (89 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
44 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 5 km SE of Cholame, CA
- 1.6 13 km WSW of Huron, CA
- 1.5 11 km WSW of Huron, CA
- 1.6 10 km SSE of Parkfield, CA
- 1.5 9 km of Avenal, CA
- 2.4 11 km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 1.8 13 km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 2.4 13 km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 1.9 8 km NNW of Cholame, CA
- 2.4 10 km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 2.6 12 km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 1.7 9 km NW of Avenal, CA
- 3.1 11 km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 1.9 11 km NNW of Avenal, CA
- 1.7 10 km 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.