Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.5ml
Earthquake near Buttonwillow, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Buttonwillow in the 24 hours to 7:17 am PST (15:17 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 2.5 earthquake was recorded 15 km (9 mi) south-southeast of Buttonwillow, CA, at 8:23 am PST on 2 February 2022 (16:23 UTC), 22 km deep. 3 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 15km SSE of Buttonwillow, CA
34 km (21 mi) WSW of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 8:23 am PST on 2 February 2022 ()
- Where
- 15 km (9 mi) south-southeast of Buttonwillow, CA · earthquakes near Buttonwillow
- Magnitude
- M 2.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 22 km below the surface
- Felt
- 3 reports · strongest reported intensity II
- Nearest
- Kern County, 61 km E
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1672 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 2 km (1 mi) from the epicentre. In Buttonwillow, 15 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, South Taft, Taft Heights, Maricopa, Rosedale.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 180 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 86,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 61,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.4× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.5 about 180 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 3,500 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.8 13km WNW of Grapevine, CA · 46 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.7 11km N of Lamont, CA · 47 km E of this epicentre
- 5.5 The 1952 Bakersfield, California Earthquake · 41 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.4 9km NW of Grapevine, CA · 48 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.4 13km WNW of Grapevine, CA · 45 km SE 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 35.2800, -119.3995. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 61 km (38 mi) | E | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Kings County, CA | 96 km (60 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Kings County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 96 km (60 mi) | W | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 101 km (63 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Ventura County, CA | 105 km (65 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Tulare County, CA | 119 km (74 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Tulare County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
47 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 14km SW of Lamont, CA
- 1.5 22km SW of Maricopa, CA
- 2.4 13km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 2.0 14km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 2.0 17km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.6 13km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.8 13km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.8 14km SSW of Maricopa, CA
- 2.2 12km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.6 10km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.8 12km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.9 12km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 2.7 13km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.8 12km NNW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.9 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.