Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.0ml
Earthquake near Buttonwillow, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Buttonwillow in the 24 hours to 11:52 am PST (19:52 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 10 km (6 mi) southwest of Buttonwillow, CA, at 9:31 pm PDT on 16 March 2021 (04:31 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 10km SW of Buttonwillow, CA
46 km (29 mi) W of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 9:31 pm PDT on 16 March 2021 ()
- Where
- 10 km (6 mi) southwest of Buttonwillow, CA · earthquakes near Buttonwillow
- Magnitude
- M 2.0 (ml)
- Depth
- -0.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 74 km E
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2065 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Buttonwillow, CA
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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 16 km (10 mi) from the epicentre. In Buttonwillow, 10 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 10 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 33 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 5.8 450,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 320,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 29× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.0 about 33 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 18,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.2 21km SW of Lamont, California · 45 km ESE 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 35.3378, -119.5478. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 74 km (46 mi) | E | earthquakes near Kern County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 82 km (51 mi) | W | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Kings County, CA | 85 km (53 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 100 km (62 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Ventura County, CA | 115 km (72 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Tulare County, CA | 121 km (75 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Tulare County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
27 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 22km SW of Maricopa, CA
- 1.7 14km SW of Lamont, CA
- 2.5 15km SSE of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.6 19km ENE of Maricopa, CA
- 1.9 33km NNE of Simmler, CA
- 1.8 19km E of Maricopa, CA
- 2.0 19km E of Maricopa, CA
- 1.8 8km ESE of Shafter, 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 19km N of Pine Mountain Club, CA
- 1.6 19km ENE of Maricopa, 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.