Moderate mag. 3.8 earthquake - Inyo County, 52 mi east of Porterville, Tulare County, California, USA, on Saturday, 16 Jan 2021 7:14 pm (GMT -8) -
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Moderate magnitude 3.8 earthquake at 1 km depth
17 Jan 03:18 UTC: First to report: EMSC after 3 minutes.
17 Jan 03:18: Now using data updates from USGS
17 Jan 03:18: Now using data updates from USGS
Update Sun, 17 Jan 2021, 03:24
Small magnitude 3.8 earthquake 52 miles east of Porterville, California, United States3.8 quake 16 Jan 7:14 pm (GMT -8)
A magnitude 3.8 earthquake near Porterville, Tulare County, California, USA, was reported only 9 minutes ago by the United States Geological Survey (USGS), considered the key international and national agency that monitors seismic activity in the US. The earthquake occurred at a very shallow depth of 0.9 miles beneath the epicenter early evening on Saturday 16 January 2021 at 7:14 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.
A second report was later issued by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), which listed it as a magnitude 3.8 earthquake 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, and Ridgecrest (pop. 28,800) 46 miles away. In Porterville (pop. 56,100, 52 miles away), the quake was probably not felt.
A second report was later issued by the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), which listed it as a magnitude 3.8 earthquake 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, and Ridgecrest (pop. 28,800) 46 miles away. In Porterville (pop. 56,100, 52 miles away), the quake was probably not felt.
Earthquake data:
Date & time: 17 Jan 2021 03:14:49 UTC -
Local time at epicenter: Saturday, 16 Jan 2021 7:14 pm (GMT -8)
Magnitude: 3.8
Depth: 1.4 km
Epicenter latitude / longitude: 36.18683°N / 118.097°W
(Inyo County, California, United States)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!
74 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!
108 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!
113 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!
160 km (100 mi) ESE of Clovis (pop: 104,200) --> 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
13°C (55 F), humidity: 34%, wind: 1 m/s (2 kts) from WNW
Primary data source: USGS (United States Geological Survey)Clear Sky
13°C (55 F), humidity: 34%, wind: 1 m/s (2 kts) from WNWEstimated released energy: 3.2 x 1010 joules (8.78 megawatt hours, equivalent to 7.56 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 3.8 | 1.4 km | 13km SW of Olancha, CA, USA | USGS |
| M 3.8 | 5 km | CENTRAL CALIFORNIA, USA | EMSC |
User reports for this quake (2)
User reports estimate the perceived ground shaking intensity according to the MMI (Modified Mercalli Intensity) scale.
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82.6 km W of epicenter [Map] / Weak shaking (MMI III) (reported through our app)
Redwood City Ca / Light shaking (MMI IV) : Felt the floor move bed rattled and so did the dresser
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