Moderate mag. 4.0 earthquake - Inyo County, 52 mi east of Porterville, Tulare County, California, USA, on Saturday, 16 Jan 2021 6:49 pm (GMT -8) -
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Moderate magnitude 4.0 earthquake at 0 km depth
17 Jan 02:51 UTC: First to report: USGS after 2 minutes.
17 Jan 02:55: Magnitude recalculated from 3.9 to 4.0.
17 Jan 02:55: Magnitude recalculated from 3.9 to 4.0.
Update Sun, 17 Jan 2021, 02:57
Magnitude 4.0 earthquake strikes near Porterville, Tulare County, California, United States4.0 quake 16 Jan 6:49 pm (GMT -8)
An earthquake of magnitude 4.0 occurred only 8 minutes ago 52 miles east of Porterville, California, United States, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported.
The quake hit at a very shallow depth of 0.1 miles beneath the epicenter near Porterville, Tulare County, California, USA, early evening on Saturday 16 January 2021 at 6:49 pm local time. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
Our monitoring service identified a second report from the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) which listed the quake at magnitude 4.0 as well.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Olancha (pop. 190) located 8 miles from the epicenter.
Other towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Lone Pine (pop. 2,000) located 29 miles from the epicenter, Weldon (pop. 2,600) 38 miles away, Weldon (pop. 2,600) 38 miles away, Weldon (pop. 2,600) 38 miles away, Alta Sierra (pop. 7,000) 41 miles away, Ridgecrest (pop. 28,800) 46 miles away, and Porterville (pop. 56,100) 52 miles away.
The quake hit at a very shallow depth of 0.1 miles beneath the epicenter near Porterville, Tulare County, California, USA, early evening on Saturday 16 January 2021 at 6:49 pm local time. The exact magnitude, epicenter, and depth of the quake might be revised within the next few hours or minutes as seismologists review data and refine their calculations, or as other agencies issue their report.
Our monitoring service identified a second report from the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) which listed the quake at magnitude 4.0 as well.
Based on the preliminary seismic data, the quake should not have caused any significant damage, but was probably felt by many people as light vibration in the area of the epicenter.
Weak shaking might have been felt in Olancha (pop. 190) located 8 miles from the epicenter.
Other towns or cities near the epicenter where the quake might have been felt as very weak shaking include Lone Pine (pop. 2,000) located 29 miles from the epicenter, Weldon (pop. 2,600) 38 miles away, Weldon (pop. 2,600) 38 miles away, Weldon (pop. 2,600) 38 miles away, Alta Sierra (pop. 7,000) 41 miles away, Ridgecrest (pop. 28,800) 46 miles away, and Porterville (pop. 56,100) 52 miles away.
Earthquake data:
Date & time: 17 Jan 2021 02:49:08 UTC -
Local time at epicenter: Saturday, 16 Jan 2021 6:49 pm (GMT -8)
Magnitude: 4
Depth: 0.1 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 36.18683°N / 118.095°W

Nearest volcano: Golden Trout Creek (28 km / 17 mi)
Nearby towns and cities:
13 km (8 mi) SW of Olancha (pop: 192) --> See nearby quakes!
47 km (29 mi) S of Lone Pine (pop: 2,040) --> See nearby quakes!
65 km (41 mi) NE of Alta Sierra (Kern County) (pop: 7,050) --> See nearby quakes!
73 km (46 mi) NNW of Ridgecrest (pop: 28,800) --> See nearby quakes!
84 km (52 mi) E of Porterville (pop: 56,100) --> See nearby quakes!
109 km (67 mi) E of Visalia (pop: 130,100) --> See nearby quakes!
112 km (70 mi) E of Tulare (pop: 62,300) --> See nearby quakes!
114 km (71 mi) ENE of Delano (pop: 52,700) --> See nearby quakes!
123 km (76 mi) NE of Bakersfield (pop: 373,600) --> See nearby quakes!
401 km (249 mi) SE of Sacramento (pop: 490,700) --> See nearby quakes!
Weather at epicenter at time of quake:
Clear Sky
9.4°C (49 F), humidity: 63%, wind: 2 m/s (5 kts) from NNW
Primary data source: USGS (United States Geological Survey)Clear Sky

Estimated released energy: 6.3 x 1010 joules (17.5 megawatt hours, equivalent to 15.1 tons of TNT) More info
Data for the same earthquake reported by different agencies
Info: The more agencies report about the same quake and post similar data, the more confidence you can have in the data. It takes normally up to a few hours until earthquake parameters are calculated with near-optimum precision.
Magnitude | Depth | Location | Source |
M 4.0 | 0.1 km | 13km SW of Olancha, CA, USA | USGS |
M 4.0 | 5 km | CENTRAL CALIFORNIA, USA | EMSC |
User reports for this quake (11)
User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
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house on Ocean st. Santa Cruz, CA 95060 / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / 2-5 s : supprised to hear quake was centered so far away. Felt fairly good sized, biggest felt in this house, felt 4 or 5 other quakes here. This felt alot bigger than the Napa quake, and that was biggest feeling quake prior to this one | One user found this interesting.
- I believe you felt the multiple eqs in the Aromas area. This just happened around the same time
Rural Inyokern / Weak shaking (MMI III) / simple rolling (tilting sideways along one direction) / 2-5 s : knew it was an eq | One user found this interesting.
SILVERPEAK (179.4 km NNE of epicenter) [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating / 2-5 s (reported through our app)
8.8 km SE of epicenter [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) / horizontal (sideways) swinging / 1-2 s : Camping in a tent, lying against the ground and felt the shaking clearly
373.9 km WNW of epicenter [Map] / Very weak shaking (MMI II)
San Marcos (353.6 km SSE of epicenter) [Map] / not felt (reported through our app)
225.5 km S of epicenter [Map] / Strong shaking (MMI VI) (reported through our app)
82.8 km W of epicenter [Map] / Light shaking (MMI IV) (reported through our app)
Stockton CA / Very weak shaking (MMI II) / rattling, vibrating / very short
93549, olancha ca / Light shaking (MMI IV) / 2-5 s
San jose,ca / Moderate shaking (MMI V) / single vertical bump / 1-2 s
Earlier earthquakes in the same area since 1900
- Date / time UTC| Mag |Depth|Age|Distance| Details
- 21 Jul 1952 11:52| 7.5 |6km / 3.7mi|69 years ago|159km / 99mi| 9.8 mi N of Frazier Park, Kern County, California, USA
- 06 Jul 2019 03:19| 7.1 |8km / 5mi|1 year 35 weeks ago|64km / 40mi| San Bernardino Comitatus County, 10.9 mi N of Ridgecrest, Kern County, California, USA
- 16 Oct 1999 09:46| 7.1 |13.7km / 8.5mi|21 years ago|242km / 150mi| 59 mi E of Victorville, San Bernardino Comitatus County, California, USA
- 04 Nov 1908 08:37| 6.5 |unknown|112 years ago|101km / 63mi| Inyo County, 46 mi NE of Ridgecrest, Kern County, California, USA
- 04 Jul 2019 17:33| 6.4 |10.7km / 6.6mi|1 year 35 weeks ago|75km / 47mi| San Bernardino Comitatus County, 10.9 mi NE of Ridgecrest, Kern County, California, USA
- 15 Mar 1946 13:49| 6.3 |6km / 3.7mi|75 years ago|56km / 35mi| 16 mi W of Ridgecrest, Kern County, California, USA
- 17 May 1993 23:20| 6.1 |3.6km / 2.2mi|28 years ago|113km / 70mi| Inyo County, 102 mi NE of Visalia, Tulare County, California, USA
- 23 Nov 1984 18:08| 6.1 |8.1km / 5mi|36 years ago|149km / 92mi| Inyo County, 81 mi NE of Fresno, California, USA
- 24 Jun 2020 17:40| 5.8 |4.7km / 2.9mi|36 weeks ago|31km / 19mi| 12 mi SE of Lone Pine, Inyo County, California, USA
- 04 Jun 2020 01:32| 5.5 |8.4km / 5.2mi|39 weeks ago|88km / 54mi| San Bernardino Comitatus County, 14 mi E of Ridgecrest, Kern County, California, USA
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