QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8ml

8km NNW of San Miguel Is., CA

· 14 km deep · released about 450 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Barbara County 58 kmVentura County 119 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
Magnitude
M 2.8 (ml)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Santa Barbara County, 58 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1513 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 450 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 34,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 24,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.1× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 450 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.

Where

Epicentre 34.1032, -120.3888. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Santa Barbara County, CA 58 km (36 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
Ventura County, CA 119 km (74 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Ventura County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 14km SSW of Lompoc, CA
  2. 1.7 14km WSW of Isla Vista, CA
  3. 2.2 11km SSE of Santa Cruz Is. (NW end), CA
  4. 2.4 42km SW of Lompoc, CA
  5. 2.3 26km SW of Lompoc, CA
  6. 2.4 22km S of Solvang, CA
  7. 2.5 32km N of San Miguel Is., CA
  8. 2.0 34km SSW of Buellton, CA
  9. 2.5 21km WSW of Santa Rosa Is., CA
  10. 1.6 19km SSE of Solvang, CA
  11. 1.5 18km SSE of Solvang, CA
  12. 1.9 12km W of Isla Vista, CA
  13. 1.9 18km SSE of Santa Rosa Is., CA
  14. 3.3 13km W of Isla Vista, CA
  15. 1.5 14km W of Isla Vista, 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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km in our catalogue was M 4.3 on 2017-10-26 — it released about 210 times the energy of this one.

From the QuakeIndex catalogue, built from the USGS FDSN event service.

On USGS

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