Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Buttonwillow, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Buttonwillow in the 24 hours to 7:49 am PST (15:49 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 28 km (17 mi) northwest of Buttonwillow, CA, at 4:14 am PST on 25 December 2022 (12:14 UTC), 5.4 km deep.
USGS: 28km NW of Buttonwillow, CA
65 km (40 mi) WNW of Bakersfield, CA · 46 km (29 mi) WSW of Delano, CA
- When
- 4:14 am PST on 25 December 2022 ()
- Where
- 28 km (17 mi) northwest of Buttonwillow, CA · earthquakes near Buttonwillow
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Kings County, 58 km N
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1389 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Buttonwillow, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Buttonwillow, CA. No account or email needed.
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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Buttonwillow, 28 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Lost Hills 7 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.4 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 95,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.
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 35.5587, -119.7088. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kings County, CA | 58 km (36 mi) | N | earthquakes near Kings County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 70 km (43 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Kern County, CA | 92 km (57 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Tulare County, CA | 112 km (70 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Tulare County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 118 km (73 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
41 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 9 km SE of Kettleman City, CA
- 2.5 15 km SW of Corcoran, CA
- 2.3 23 km NNW of Simmler, CA
- 1.7 11 km SSE of Kettleman City, CA
- 2.4 20 km SSE of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.8 7 km NNW of Delano, CA
- 1.7 9 km S of Shafter, CA
- 2.1 27 km SSE of Kettleman City, CA
- 2.5 26 km SSE of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.5 13 km ENE of Cholame, CA
- 1.8 28 km S of Kettleman City, CA
- 2.1 14 km SW of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.6 14 km SW of Alpaugh, CA
- 2.4 19 km S of Kettleman City, CA
- 1.7 10 km SSE of Kettleman City, 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.