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Location:
16km WNW of Johannesburg, CA
Period:
13 Jan 2016 23:17:27 - 17 Jan 2016 02:22:34 (3 days 3 hours 5 minutes)
Volcanoes in 100km radius:
None
Earthquakes:
42
8 swarms found nearby.
2009
31 Jan
1 day 14 hours
48 earthquakes
2019
S20190710.1(10.5km)
9 Jul
6 days 20 hours
98 earthquakes
S20190720.2(11.8km)
20 Jul
9 days 7 hours
129 earthquakes
2025
10 Apr
2 days 16 hours
43 earthquakes
25 Nov
1 day 8 hours
30 earthquakes
2026
22 Jan
1 day 19 hours
28 earthquakes
S20260601.2(10.4km)
1 Jun
11 days 3 hours
117 earthquakes
13 Jul
1 day 6 hours
46 earthquakes
AI-generated article — for informational and entertainment purposes only. May contain inaccuracies. Full disclaimerFound an error?

Seismic Swarm S20160114.1 Near Johannesburg, California

A seismic swarm designated S20160114.1 occurred 16 km west-northwest of Johannesburg in Kern County, California. The sequence began at 23:17 UTC on 13 January 2016 and concluded at 02:22 UTC on 17 January 2016, spanning 75 hours and 5 minutes. During this interval, 42 earthquakes were recorded.

The events ranged in magnitude from 0.5 to 3.6, with the largest shock measuring 3.6 at a depth of 6 km on 14 January at 04:23:58 UTC. Most hypocenters clustered between 6 km and 9 km depth, consistent with shallow crustal faulting. A notable concentration of activity took place on 14 January, including multiple events above magnitude 2.0, followed by a gradual decline through 16 January.

This swarm represents the second such episode documented in the region since 2000, following an earlier swarm in 2009. The 2016 sequence exhibited typical swarm characteristics: a rapid onset without a single dominant mainshock, numerous small-magnitude events, and a relatively short overall duration.

Johannesburg lies within the Mojave Desert portion of the eastern California shear zone, a region of distributed right-lateral strike-slip deformation between the San Andreas Fault to the southwest and the Basin and Range province to the northeast. The local geology comprises Precambrian to Mesozoic crystalline basement rocks overlain by Tertiary volcanic and sedimentary units. Active faults in the vicinity, including segments of the Garlock Fault system and subsidiary structures of the Searles Valley and Randsburg faults, accommodate regional strain accumulation.

Seismic swarms in this tectonic setting commonly arise from fluid migration or aseismic slip triggering brittle failure on small fault patches. Depths observed during the 2016 sequence align with the brittle-ductile transition zone in the Mojave crust, where temperatures permit stick-slip behavior.

Historical records indicate that the broader Johannesburg–Randsburg area experiences occasional moderate earthquakes, though large-magnitude events remain infrequent compared with the San Andreas system. The 2016 swarm did not produce reported surface rupture or significant damage, consistent with its maximum magnitude and shallow but limited energy release.

  • USGS Earthquake Catalog
  • California Geological Survey Fault Activity Map
  • Southern California Earthquake Data Center

References

USGS Earthquake Catalog
California Geological Survey Fault Activity Map
Southern California Earthquake Data Center