Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.9ml
Earthquake near Taft, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Taft in the 24 hours to 10:35 am PST (18:35 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 1.9 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) north-northeast of Taft, CA, at 8:05 am PDT on 19 March 2021 (15:05 UTC), 19 km deep.
USGS: 5km NNE of Taft, CA
40 km (25 mi) WSW of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 8:05 am PDT on 19 March 2021 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) north-northeast of Taft, CA · earthquakes near Taft
- Magnitude
- M 1.9 (ml)
- Depth
- 19 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 66 km ENE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, 18 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 2064 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, 5 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: Ford City, South Taft, Taft Heights, Maricopa, Buttonwillow.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 23 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 5.8 660,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 470,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 42× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.9 about 23 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 27,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 11 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.5 The 1952 Kern County, California Earthquake · 46 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.8 13km WNW of Grapevine, CA · 40 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.5 The 1952 Bakersfield, California Earthquake · 47 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.4 9km NW of Grapevine, CA · 44 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.4 13km WNW of Grapevine, CA · 40 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 35.1827, -119.4288. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 66 km (41 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 91 km (56 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 95 km (59 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Ventura County, CA | 96 km (59 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Kings County, CA | 105 km (65 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Tulare County, CA | 130 km (81 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Tulare County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
51 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.5 15km SSE of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.6 19km ENE of Maricopa, CA
- 2.4 13km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 2.6 12km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 2.8 12km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 3.5 13km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.8 19km E of Maricopa, CA
- 2.0 19km E of Maricopa, CA
- 1.8 13km N of Pine Mountain Club, CA
- 1.8 8km ESE of Shafter, CA
- 3.0 15km SSE of Buttonwillow, CA
- 3.9 15km SSE of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.6 17km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.5 11km NW of Pine Mountain Club, CA
- 1.9 19km NW of Grapevine, 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.