Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Carpinteria, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Carpinteria in the 24 hours to 7:02 am PST (15:02 UTC). The last one was M 1.9, 11 km (7 mi) E, at 1:23 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Carpinteria
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 17 km (10 mi) south-southeast of Carpinteria, CA, at 1:51 pm PST on 8 November 2019 (21:51 UTC), 24 km deep.
USGS: 17 km SSE of Carpinteria, CA
97 km (60 mi) WNW of Los Angeles, CA · 15 km (9 mi) W of San Buenaventura (Ventura), CA
- When
- 1:51 pm PST on 8 November 2019 ()
- Where
- 17 km (10 mi) south-southeast of Carpinteria, CA · earthquakes near Carpinteria
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 24 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Ventura County, 28 km ENE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Oak Ridge fault (offshore), 3 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 58 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Carpinteria, 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 Carpinteria, 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: Ventura, Oak View, Toro Canyon, Mira Monte, Channel Islands Beach, Summerland.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 16 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 5.8 930,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 660,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 59× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 16 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 4.1 on 2016-03-12 — about 2,900 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.8 The 1925 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 35 km W of this epicentre
- 5.5 30 km SW of Channel Islands Beach, California · 31 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.5 10 km NE of Toro Canyon, California · 27 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 The 1941 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 15 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.3 The 1973 Point Mugu, California Earthquake · 47 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 34.2703, -119.4205. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ventura County, CA | 28 km (17 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 64 km (40 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 107 km (66 mi) | E | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Kern County, CA | 135 km (84 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Kern County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
50 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 22km SSE of Isla Vista, CA
- 2.2 19km SSE of Isla Vista, CA
- 2.7 21km S of Port Hueneme, CA
- 1.9 18km SSE of Isla Vista, CA
- 1.8 21km SSW of Santa Barbara, CA
- 1.9 19km SSW of Santa Barbara, CA
- 2.5 21km NNW of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
- 1.8 14km NNW of Santa Paula, CA
- 1.7 21km NNW of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
- 1.9 21km NNW of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
- 2.3 20km NNW of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
- 2.1 12km NE of Carpinteria, CA
- 2.4 22km SE of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
- 2.0 28km SSW of Port Hueneme, CA
- 2.2 20km S of Carpinteria, 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.