Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.9ml
Earthquake near Shafter, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Shafter in the 24 hours to 5:31 am PST (13:31 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 83 km (51 mi) SSE, at 3:38 am PDT on 12 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 798 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Shafter
This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) west-southwest of Shafter, CA, at 12:18 am PST on 21 January 2020 (08:18 UTC), 25 km deep.
USGS: 6km WSW of Shafter, CA
30 km (19 mi) WNW of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 12:18 am PST on 21 January 2020 ()
- Where
- 6 km (4 mi) west-southwest of Shafter, CA · earthquakes near Shafter
- Magnitude
- M 1.9 (ml)
- Depth
- 25 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 57 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- New Hope fault, 25 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 2487 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Shafter, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Shafter, 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Shafter, 6 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: Wasco, Buttonwillow, Rosedale, Greenacres, McFarland, Oildale.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 19 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 790,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 560,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 50× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.9 about 19 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 32,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.7 11km N of Lamont, CA · 42 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.5 The 1952 Bakersfield, California Earthquake · 37 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.2 18km NNE of Lamont, CA · 47 km E of this epicentre
- 5.2 21km SW of Lamont, California · 42 km SSE 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 35.4757, -119.3363. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 57 km (35 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Kings County, CA | 79 km (49 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Tulare County, CA | 98 km (61 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 101 km (63 mi) | W | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 122 km (76 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara 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 8km SSW of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.8 14km SW of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.6 18km SSW of Lamont, CA
- 2.3 7km NNW of Delano, CA
- 1.8 7km NNW of Delano, CA
- 1.8 13km SW of Alpaugh, CA
- 2.1 6km N of Taft, CA
- 1.6 7km NNW of Lamont, CA
- 2.0 13 km SSW of Rosedale, CA
- 2.9 13km SSW of Rosedale, CA
- 1.9 5km N of Wasco, CA
- 2.1 10km ESE of Maricopa, CA
- 1.6 10km ESE of Maricopa, CA
- 2.6 28km WNW of Buttonwillow, CA
- 2.2 28km WNW 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.