QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Santa Paula, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Paula in the 24 hours to 1:36 am PST (09:36 UTC). The last one was M 1.9, 9 km (6 mi) NW, at 2:39 am PDT on 23 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Santa Paula

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 15 km (9 mi) north of Santa Paula, CA, at 5:27 pm PST on 13 February 2018 (01:27 UTC), 14 km deep.

USGS: 15km N of Santa Paula, CA

80 km (50 mi) NW of Los Angeles, CA · 30 km (19 mi) N of Camarillo, CA

5:27 pm PST, Feb 13, 2018 · · 14 km deep · released about 8.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Santa Paula Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Ventura County 16 kmLos Angeles County 81 kmSanta Barbara County 89 kmKern County 100 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
5:27 pm PST on 13 February 2018 ()
Where
15 km (9 mi) north of Santa Paula, CA · earthquakes near Santa Paula
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Ventura County, 16 km SSW
Nearest mapped fault
Santa Ynez fault, 6 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 3187 days ago

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 Santa Paula, 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: Ojai, Fillmore, Meiners Oaks, Mira Monte, Oak View, Saticoy.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 8.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.4 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 4.1 on 2016-03-12 — about 5,600 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 15 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.0 Tejon Pass, California · 48 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 5.6 7km NNE of Simi Valley, California · 38 km ESE of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 Southwest of Tejon Pass, California · 24 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 10 km NE of Toro Canyon, California · 40 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 The 1941 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 49 km WSW 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 34.4887, -119.0663. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Ventura County, CA 16 km (10 mi) SSW earthquakes near Ventura County
Los Angeles County, CA 81 km (50 mi) ESE earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Santa Barbara County, CA 89 km (55 mi) W earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
Kern County, CA 100 km (62 mi) NNE earthquakes near Kern County
Orange County, CA 149 km (93 mi) SE earthquakes near Orange County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

46 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.5 4km SW of Carpinteria, CA
  2. 3.0 6km S of Ojai, CA
  3. 1.8 21km SSW of Frazier Park, CA
  4. 2.1 16km N of Santa Paula, CA
  5. 1.5 16km N of Santa Paula, CA
  6. 1.6 16km ENE of Ojai, CA
  7. 1.6 16km SW of Thousand Oaks, CA
  8. 1.6 14km NE of Ojai, CA
  9. 1.5 16km NW of Fillmore, CA
  10. 1.6 5km SSW of Camarillo, CA
  11. 1.9 4km SE of Piru, CA
  12. 1.7 4km SW of Carpinteria, CA
  13. 2.2 4km SW of Carpinteria, CA
  14. 1.7 6km SSW of Gorman, CA
  15. 1.7 16km ENE of Ojai, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.