Historical eventJanuary 91857

1857 Fort Tejon earthquake

An earthquake registering 7.9 Mw ruptured part of the San Andreas Fault in central and southern California.

Everything on January 9Original source

In context

When
Friday, January 9 1857169 years ago
Category
Historical eventA dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
Era
19th century · 1850s
Recorded from
Wikipedia “On this day” feed

Russia, Greece and some other countries used the Julian calendar into the early 20th century, so local records may show a date up to 13 days earlier.

At a glance

Dates: From 1857.

What happened

An earthquake registering 7.9 Mw ruptured part of the San Andreas Fault in central and southern California.

January 9 through the years

Other entries on the same calendar day, in order.

  1. 18571857 Fort Tejon earthquake
  2. 2005Sudan People's Liberation Movement
  3. 2005Mahmoud Abbas
  4. 2007Apple Inc.
  5. 2011Iran Air Flight 277
  6. 2014Mitsubishi Materials chemical plant explosion
  7. 2015Hypercacher kosher supermarket siege
  8. 2015Charlie Hebdo shooting
  9. 2015Mozambique funeral beer poisoning
  10. 2017Mont-Libre Agile Learning Centre
  11. 2021Sriwijaya Air Flight 182

Also in 1857

  • September 11Nauvoo LegionA legion of Mormon militiamen completed a massacre of at least 120 California-bound Arkansas pioneers at Mountain Meadow, Utah.
  • June 1Revolution of the GanhadoresThe Revolution of the Ganhadores, the first general strike in Brazil, began in Salvador, Bahia.
  • August 3Indian Rebellion of 1857Indian Rebellion: An eight-day siege of a fortified outbuilding in Arrah occupied by 68 defenders against more than 10,000 men ended when…
  • January 24University of CalcuttaThe University of Calcutta was established as the first modern university in the Indian subcontinent.
  • August 24Ohio Life Insurance and Trust CompanyThe New York City branch of the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Co. collapsed following widespread embezzlement, leading to a severe recess…
  • March 6Dred Scott v. SandfordThe Supreme Court of the United States rules 7–2 in the Dred Scott v. Sandford case that the Constitution does not confer citizenship on…
  • May 14Mindon MinMindon Min was crowned as King of Burma.
  • December 31Queen VictoriaQueen Victoria announced the choice of Ottawa , then a small logging town, to be the capital of the British colony of Canada.

Everything we record for 1857 →

Sources

Cite this page

“1857 Fort Tejon earthquake”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/event/1857-fort-tejon-earthquake-1857-january-9, accessed October 29, 2026.

Cite the underlying source as well — the source links above go to the record this entry is adapted from.

Questions about this entry

When did 1857 Fort Tejon earthquake happen?

January 9 1857 — 169 years ago, on a Friday.

Where does this text come from?

Wikipedia “On this day” feed. Summaries are short adaptations that link back to the source, not reprints.

How do I cite this page?

Use the ready-made citation near the sources at the bottom of the page, and follow the source link to cite the underlying record as well.

Text adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0 and from Wikidata (CC0). Images come from Wikimedia Commons; credit and licence are shown with each image. Editorial entries are © What's On This Date. Sources & licensing · How this site works.