6km SSW of Buttonwillow, CA

2019-10-09 20:19 UTC · 29 km deep · released about 16 lb of TNT

Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.

When: 2019-10-09 20:19 UTC
Magnitude: M 1.8 (ml)
Depth: 29 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Kern County, 71 km E
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 2544 days ago · we first saw it 2544 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 16 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 970,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 680,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 61× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 1.8 about 16 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.

Where

Map loads when it scrolls into view

Epicentre 35.3547, -119.5068. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction
Kern County, CA	71 km (44 mi)	W of here	earthquakes near Kern County
Kings County, CA	85 km (53 mi)	SSE of here	earthquakes near Kings County
San Luis Obispo County, CA	85 km (53 mi)	E of here	earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Santa Barbara County, CA	103 km (64 mi)	NNE of here	earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
Ventura County, CA	116 km (72 mi)	NNW of here	earthquakes near Ventura County
Tulare County, CA	117 km (73 mi)	SW of here	earthquakes near Tulare County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

46 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

1.9 27km WNW of Buttonwillow, CA 07:01 UTC
2.3 28km WNW of Buttonwillow, CA 05:20 UTC
2.1 27km NE of Simmler, CA 05:38 UTC
1.7 27km NE of Simmler, CA 05:38 UTC
2.6 27km WNW of Buttonwillow, CA 05:26 UTC
2.2 28km WNW of Buttonwillow, CA 02:30 UTC
2.6 28km NE of Simmler, CA 14:33 UTC
2.1 28km WNW of Buttonwillow, CA 12:16 UTC
2.1 27km NE of Simmler, CA 11:59 UTC
2.4 28km WNW of Buttonwillow, CA 11:35 UTC
2.2 28km WNW of Buttonwillow, CA 11:04 UTC
2.3 28km NE of Simmler, CA 10:42 UTC
3.7 6km SE of Oildale, CA 04:52 UTC
1.6 22km SW of Maricopa, CA 04:58 UTC
1.5 4km NNW of Buttonwillow, CA 14:23 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 17:53 UTC. QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.9 on 2016-02-24 — it released about 39,000 times the energy of this one.

From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.

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.