Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Taft, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Taft in the 24 hours to 6:37 am PST (14:37 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 44 km (27 mi) west-northwest of Taft, CA, at 6:29 am PDT on 20 October 2019 (13:29 UTC), 3.0 km deep.
USGS: 10km ESE of Simmler, CA
78 km (49 mi) W of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 6:29 am PDT on 20 October 2019 ()
- Where
- 44 km (27 mi) west-northwest of Taft, CA · earthquakes near Taft
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 3.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Luis Obispo County, 51 km W
- 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 2579 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Taft, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Taft, CA. No account or email needed.
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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Taft, 44 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.6 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 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 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 35.3072, -119.8995. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 51 km (31 mi) | W | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Kings County, CA | 85 km (53 mi) | N | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 87 km (54 mi) | S | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Kern County, CA | 106 km (66 mi) | E | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Ventura County, CA | 127 km (79 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Tulare County, CA | 144 km (89 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Tulare County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
48 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.5 15km SSE of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.5 34km S of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.9 33km NNE of Simmler, CA
- 3.0 15km SSE of Buttonwillow, CA
- 3.9 15km SSE of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.6 14km SW of Taft, CA
- 1.6 22km WNW of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.6 16km SW of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.6 15km W of Taft, CA
- 1.9 5km NNE of Taft, CA
- 2.0 10km SW of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.7 16km SSE of Shandon, CA
- 2.4 24km SE of Santa Margarita, CA
- 1.9 8km SSW of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.8 14km SW 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.