QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Thousand Oaks, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Thousand Oaks in the 24 hours to 1:27 am PST (09:27 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 18 km (11 mi) S, at 4:53 am PDT on 16 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Thousand Oaks

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 17 km (10 mi) southwest of Thousand Oaks, CA, at 11:35 pm PDT on 27 September 2018 (06:35 UTC), 15 km deep.

USGS: 16km SW of Thousand Oaks, CA

53 km (33 mi) W of Los Angeles, CA · 16 km (10 mi) SW of Thousand Oaks, CA

11:35 pm PDT, Sep 27, 2018 · · 15 km deep · released about 7.3 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Thousand Oaks Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Ventura County 34 kmLos Angeles County 67 kmSanta Barbara County 110 kmOrange County 120 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
11:35 pm PDT on 27 September 2018 ()
Where
17 km (10 mi) southwest of Thousand Oaks, CA · earthquakes near Thousand Oaks
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Ventura County, 34 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
Malibu Coast fault, 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 2942 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 Thousand Oaks, 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: Camarillo, Westlake Village, Malibu, Agoura Hills, Port Hueneme, Oxnard.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.3 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 2,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.3 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 18 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 43 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 50 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 5.6 7km NNE of Simi Valley, California · 38 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 30 km SW of Channel Islands Beach, California · 49 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 45 km E 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 34.0780, -118.9778. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Ventura County, CA 34 km (21 mi) NNW earthquakes near Ventura County
Los Angeles County, CA 67 km (42 mi) ENE earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Santa Barbara County, CA 110 km (68 mi) WNW earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
Orange County, CA 120 km (74 mi) ESE earthquakes near Orange County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 18km S of Camarillo, CA
  2. 1.6 2km ESE of Santa Monica, CA
  3. 1.6 2km ESE of Northridge, CA
  4. 1.9 8km S of Malibu Beach, CA
  5. 2.7 6km SSW of Malibu Beach, CA
  6. 1.8 7km NE of Ventura, CA
  7. 2.0 2km WNW of Marina del Rey, CA
  8. 1.9 2km W of Chatsworth, CA
  9. 2.4 18km S of Port Hueneme, CA
  10. 2.6 6km SSW of Sherman Oaks, CA
  11. 2.8 3km ESE of Northridge, CA
  12. 2.0 13km NNW of Piru, CA
  13. 2.0 4km NE of Ojai, CA
  14. 2.8 7km NW of Malibu, CA
  15. 1.8 6km SW of Sherman Oaks, 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.