Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Buttonwillow, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Buttonwillow in the 24 hours to 3:31 pm PST (23:31 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 1.8 earthquake was recorded 17 km (10 mi) southeast of Buttonwillow, CA, at 9:17 am PDT on 21 April 2021 (16:17 UTC), 23 km deep.
USGS: 17km SE of Buttonwillow, CA
28 km (17 mi) WSW of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 9:17 am PDT on 21 April 2021 ()
- Where
- 17 km (10 mi) southeast of Buttonwillow, CA · earthquakes near Buttonwillow
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 23 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kern County, 56 km E
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2031 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Buttonwillow, 17 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, Rosedale, South Taft, Taft Heights, Greenacres.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 17 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 5.8 900,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 640,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 57× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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 36,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 14 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.5 The 1952 Kern County, California Earthquake · 48 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Bakersfield, California · 49 km E of this epicentre
- 5.8 13km WNW of Grapevine, CA · 43 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.7 11km N of Lamont, CA · 41 km E of this epicentre
- 5.5 The 1952 Bakersfield, California Earthquake · 36 km E 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 35.2932, -119.3390. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 56 km (35 mi) | E | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Kings County, CA | 97 km (60 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Kings County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 101 km (63 mi) | W | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 106 km (66 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Ventura County, CA | 106 km (66 mi) | S | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Tulare County, CA | 116 km (72 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Tulare County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 22km SW of Maricopa, CA
- 1.5 8km W of Grapevine, CA
- 1.5 12km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.5 11km SW of Arvin, CA
- 2.3 14km SSW of Arvin, CA
- 1.6 20km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.7 14km SW of Lamont, CA
- 2.1 18km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.7 18km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 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
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.