Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Buttonwillow, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Buttonwillow in the 24 hours to 6:08 am PST (14:08 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) southwest of Buttonwillow, CA, at 7:37 pm PDT on 30 October 2021 (02:37 UTC), 10 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 16km SW of Buttonwillow, CA
50 km (31 mi) W of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 7:37 pm PDT on 30 October 2021 ()
- Where
- 16 km (10 mi) southwest of Buttonwillow, CA · earthquakes near Buttonwillow
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- 1 report · strongest reported intensity II
- Nearest
- Kern County, 78 km E
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, 23 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 1837 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Buttonwillow, 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 3 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Buttonwillow, 16 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, Taft Heights, Taft, South Taft.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.6 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 2,300,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.6 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
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.9 on 2016-02-24 — about 92,000 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 · 46 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 35.2885, -119.5850. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 78 km (48 mi) | E | earthquakes near Kern County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 79 km (49 mi) | W | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Kings County, CA | 90 km (56 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 93 km (58 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Ventura County, CA | 111 km (69 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Tulare County, CA | 127 km (79 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Tulare County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
36 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.3 12km N of Taft, CA
- 2.0 23km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.6 10km N of Simmler, CA
- 1.6 18km NNW of Simmler, CA
- 1.9 14km SSE of Buttonwillow, CA
- 2.0 11km SSW of Bakersfield, CA
- 1.7 10km E of Shafter, CA
- 2.0 5km SSE of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.7 30km NW of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.6 28km NW of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.8 30km WNW of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.6 28km NW of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.7 28km NW of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.5 22km SW of Maricopa, CA
- 1.8 14km SSW 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.