QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Carpinteria, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Carpinteria in the 24 hours to 12:51 pm PST (20:51 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 17 km (11 mi) south of Carpinteria, CA, at 9:21 pm PDT on 18 October 2020 (04:21 UTC), 10 km deep.

USGS: 17km S of Carpinteria, CA

21 km (13 mi) W of San Buenaventura (Ventura), CA · 102 km (63 mi) WNW of Los Angeles, CA

9:21 pm PDT, Oct 18, 2020 · · 10 km deep · released about 8.7 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Carpinteria Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Ventura County 35 kmSanta Barbara County 60 kmLos Angeles County 112 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
9:21 pm PDT on 18 October 2020 ()
Where
17 km (11 mi) south of Carpinteria, CA · earthquakes near Carpinteria
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
10 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Ventura County, 35 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
Oak Ridge fault (offshore), under 1 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 2215 days ago

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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. 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, Toro Canyon, Summerland, Oak View, Montecito, Channel Islands Beach.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 8.7 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 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× 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 8.7 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 5,400 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.8 The 1925 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 30 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 30 km SW of Channel Islands Beach, California · 27 km S of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 10 km NE of Toro Canyon, California · 28 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 The 1941 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 12 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 The 1973 Point Mugu, California Earthquake · 50 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 34.2448, -119.4840. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Ventura County, CA 35 km (22 mi) ENE earthquakes near Ventura County
Santa Barbara County, CA 60 km (37 mi) WNW earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
Los Angeles County, CA 112 km (70 mi) E earthquakes near Los Angeles 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. 3.3 24km SE of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
  2. 2.0 15km S of Port Hueneme, CA
  3. 2.3 6km NW of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
  4. 1.6 10km NNE of Ventura, CA
  5. 2.2 11km SSE of Santa Cruz Is. (NW end), CA
  6. 1.7 8km E of Ojai, CA
  7. 2.6 6km NNW of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
  8. 1.7 12km WSW of Ventura, CA
  9. 1.8 25km SE of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
  10. 2.3 13km WSW of Ojai, CA
  11. 2.4 24km NW of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
  12. 2.0 16km S of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
  13. 1.8 10km ESE of Ojai, CA
  14. 2.2 6km WSW of Isla Vista, CA
  15. 2.2 30km SE of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), 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.