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 7:03 am PST (15:03 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 14 km (9 mi) southeast of Carpinteria, CA, at 2:51 am PDT on 14 September 2016 (09:51 UTC), 1.9 km deep.

USGS: 14km SE of Carpinteria, CA

14 km (9 mi) WNW of San Buenaventura (Ventura), CA · 97 km (60 mi) WNW of Los Angeles, CA

2:51 am PDT, Sep 14, 2016 · · 1.9 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Carpinteria Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Ventura County 24 kmSanta Barbara County 64 kmLos Angeles County 105 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
2:51 am PDT on 14 September 2016 ()
Where
14 km (9 mi) southeast of Carpinteria, CA · earthquakes near Carpinteria
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
1.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Ventura County, 24 km E
Nearest mapped fault
Pitas Point fault, 2 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 3711 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Carpinteria, 14 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.

Likely felt in: Ventura 11 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.6 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 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× 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 7.6 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 6,200 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 · 37 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 30 km SW of Channel Islands Beach, California · 37 km SSW of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 10 km NE of Toro Canyon, California · 22 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 The 1941 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 15 km W 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 34.3218, -119.3957. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Ventura County, CA 24 km (15 mi) E earthquakes near Ventura County
Santa Barbara County, CA 64 km (40 mi) WNW earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
Los Angeles County, CA 105 km (65 mi) E earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Kern County, CA 129 km (80 mi) NNE earthquakes near Kern County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 153 km (95 mi) NW earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 18 km SSE of Santa Barbara, California
  2. 1.6 14 km SSE of Santa Barbara, California
  3. 2.4 16 km SSE of Santa Barbara, California
  4. 2.1 14 km SSE of Santa Barbara, California
  5. 1.8 16 km SSE of Santa Barbara, California
  6. 2.2 6 km NNE of Ventura, California
  7. 2.5 12 km SSW of Santa Barbara, California
  8. 2.0 12 km SSW of Santa Barbara, California
  9. 3.2 12 km SSW of Santa Barbara, California
  10. 2.7 14 km SSW of Santa Barbara, California
  11. 2.9 11 km SSW of Santa Barbara, California
  12. 1.6 29 km SSE of Cuyama, California
  13. 2.2 4 km ENE of Ojai, California
  14. 3.1 2km SW of Montecito, CA
  15. 3.4 4km SSW of Montecito, 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.