Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.0ml
Earthquake near Taft, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Taft in the 24 hours to 11:53 am PST (19:53 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 61 km (38 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 Taft
This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 12 km (7 mi) southwest of Taft, CA, at 5:46 am PST on 8 March 2019 (13:46 UTC), 16 km deep.
USGS: 12km SW of Taft, CA
56 km (35 mi) SW of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 5:46 am PST on 8 March 2019 ()
- Where
- 12 km (7 mi) southwest of Taft, CA · earthquakes near Taft
- Magnitude
- M 2.0 (ml)
- Depth
- 16 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Santa Barbara County, 74 km SW
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, 2 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2806 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Taft, 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Taft, 12 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Taft Heights, South Taft, Ford City, Maricopa.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 30 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 5.8 500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 350,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 32× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.0 about 30 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.8 13km WNW of Grapevine, CA · 45 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.4 13km WNW of Grapevine, CA · 45 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.2 21km SW of Lamont, California · 41 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.0 19km NW of Grapevine, CA · 41 km E of this epicentre
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 35.0657, -119.5477. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 74 km (46 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Kern County, CA | 81 km (50 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Ventura County, CA | 87 km (54 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 89 km (56 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Kings County, CA | 115 km (71 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 152 km (95 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
45 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.5 6km WSW of Shafter, CA
- 2.0 10km W of Grapevine, CA
- 1.7 10km WSW of Shafter, CA
- 1.6 29km WSW of Maricopa, CA
- 1.5 15km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.9 18km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 2.6 6km SW of Shafter, CA
- 2.5 10km SSW of Maricopa, CA
- 2.1 11km SSW of Maricopa, CA
- 1.9 6km WSW of Shafter, CA
- 1.9 15km NNE of Pine Mountain Club, CA
- 1.6 6km WSW of Shafter, CA
- 1.8 22km ENE of Los Olivos, CA
- 2.3 17km NE of Taft, CA
- 1.7 3km ENE of Buttonwillow, 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.