Second Earthquake in Two Days Jolts Los Angeles Area with 4.3-Magnitude Tremor

A magnitude-4.3 earthquake impacted Kern County on the morning of Monday, July 13.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake was reported at 9:40 a.m. PST about 11 miles southwest of Johannesburg. It was north of Edwards Air Force Base.

Multiple residents in Kern, Ventura, San Bernardino, and Los Angeles counties reported feeling the ground shake, with it specifically being felt in cities such as Moorpark, Santa Clarita, Crestline, and San Bernardino.

No injuries or damages have been reported at the time of publishing.

This comes after there was a 4.2 magnitude earthquake was reported at 3:38 a.m on Sunday, July 12.

Experts Warn of 'The Big One'

A study published on June 3 found that "earthquake stress has reached its highest levels in at least 1,000 years along the San Andreas and San Jacinto faults."

And while they say that a major earthquake isn't necessarily imminent, it shows that Southern California has the potential for a powerful earthquake at some point.

"We have been lucky in California not to experience a large urban earthquake since 1994 on Northridge," Ahmed Elbanna, director of the Statewide California Earthquake Center and professor of earth sciences and engineering at the University of Southern California, told The Sacramento Bee.

"In order to release the stresses, the stress levels that we are talking about in this study, we need a magnitude 7 or larger earthquake," Elbanna added. ""The authors themselves, and the community, do not find the findings of the study surprising,"

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This story was originally published July 13, 2026 at 3:01 PM.