Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.3ml
Earthquake near Buttonwillow, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Buttonwillow in the 24 hours to 7:14 am PST (15:14 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 3.3 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) southwest of Buttonwillow, CA, at 10:10 pm PST on 24 February 2025 (06:10 UTC), less than 1 km deep. 8 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 11 km SW of Buttonwillow, CA
47 km (29 mi) W of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 10:10 pm PST on 24 February 2025 ()
- Where
- 11 km (7 mi) southwest of Buttonwillow, CA · earthquakes near Buttonwillow
- Magnitude
- M 3.3 (ml)
- Depth
- -0.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- 8 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Nearest
- Kern County, 75 km E
- Status
- Reviewed by a seismologist
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 555 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 49 km (30 mi) from the epicentre. In Buttonwillow, 11 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.
Likely felt in: Buttonwillow 11 km, intensity III · Taft 23 km, intensity II · Shafter 32 km, intensity II · Maricopa 34 km, intensity II · Lost Hills 34 km, intensity II · Wasco 35 km, intensity II · Rosedale 38 km, intensity II · Bakersfield 49 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1.1 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.3 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 150,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 6,700× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 4,700× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.3 about 1.1 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2.4× more
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 5.2 on 2024-08-07 — about 900 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 35.3335, -119.5550. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kern County, CA | 75 km (47 mi) | E | earthquakes near Kern County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 81 km (51 mi) | W | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Kings County, CA | 85 km (53 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 99 km (61 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Ventura County, CA | 115 km (71 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Tulare County, CA | 122 km (76 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Tulare County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
31 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 6 km SW of Shafter, CA
- 2.5 20 km NE of Maricopa, CA
- 3.7 20 km NE of Maricopa, CA
- 1.7 25 km SW of Maricopa, CA
- 1.9 22 km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.5 24 km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.9 25 km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.5 18 km SE of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.9 22 km E of Maricopa, CA
- 2.2 23 km E of Maricopa, CA
- 1.8 25 km ENE of Maricopa, CA
- 1.9 12 km SW of Taft, CA
- 2.3 24 km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 2.0 14 km E of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.6 11 km E of Simmler, 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.