Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.0ml
Earthquake near Buttonwillow, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Buttonwillow in the 24 hours to 11:42 am PST (19:42 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 82 km (51 mi) SE, at 3:38 am PDT on 12 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 798 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Buttonwillow
This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) west of Buttonwillow, CA, at 10:15 am PDT on 25 August 2018 (17:15 UTC), 8.5 km deep.
USGS: 11km W of Buttonwillow, CA
51 km (32 mi) W of Bakersfield, CA · 49 km (31 mi) SW of Delano, CA
- When
- 10:15 am PDT on 25 August 2018 ()
- Where
- 11 km (7 mi) west of Buttonwillow, CA · earthquakes near Buttonwillow
- Magnitude
- M 2.0 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kings County, 76 km NNW
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2999 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Buttonwillow, CA
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Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Buttonwillow, 11 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.
Likely felt in: Buttonwillow 11 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 36 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 420,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 300,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 27× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.0 about 36 lb of TNT
Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.
For this area
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.9 on 2016-02-24 — about 17,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.
Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.
Where
Epicentre 35.4147, -119.5938. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kings County, CA | 76 km (47 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Kings County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 78 km (48 mi) | W | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Kern County, CA | 79 km (49 mi) | E | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 106 km (66 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Tulare County, CA | 116 km (72 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Ventura County, CA | 125 km (77 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Ventura County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
26 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 6km WSW of Shafter, CA
- 1.6 6km WSW of Shafter, CA
- 2.3 17km NE of Taft, CA
- 1.7 3km ENE of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.6 10km ESE of Simmler, CA
- 2.3 12km SE of Alpaugh, CA
- 1.8 6km SSW of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.8 7km NW of Rosedale, CA
- 2.7 15km N of Simmler, CA
- 1.8 25km WSW of Alpaugh, CA
- 1.9 24km SSE of Kettleman City, CA
- 2.1 6km N of Rosedale, CA
- 1.5 30km S of Kettleman City, CA
- 2.4 4km N of Simmler, CA
- 2.2 4km N of Simmler, CA
Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.
On USGS
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.