QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3ml

Earthquake near Santa Barbara, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Barbara in the 24 hours to 7:37 am PST (15:37 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 15 km (9 mi) S, at 9:33 pm PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Santa Barbara

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 33 km (20 mi) north of Santa Barbara, CA, at 5:33 pm PDT on 15 March 2020 (00:33 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

USGS: 32km NNE of Goleta, CA

35 km (21 mi) N of Santa Barbara, CA · 144 km (90 mi) WNW of Los Angeles, CA

5:33 pm PDT, Mar 15, 2020 · · 0.2 km deep · released about 77 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Santa Barbara Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Barbara County 34 kmVentura County 68 kmSan Luis Obispo County 99 kmKern County 116 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
5:33 pm PDT on 15 March 2020 ()
Where
33 km (20 mi) north of Santa Barbara, CA · earthquakes near Santa Barbara
Magnitude
M 2.3 (ml)
Depth
0.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Santa Barbara County, 34 km SW
Nearest mapped fault
Santa Ynez fault, 20 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 2432 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 19 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. In Santa Barbara, 33 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: Mission Canyon.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 77 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 140,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 12× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 77 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 2017-05-17 — about 480 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.8 The 1925 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 46 km S of this epicentre
  2. 5.7 Near Los Alamos, California · 44 km WSW of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 10 km NE of Toro Canyon, California · 32 km SE of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 The 1941 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 46 km SSE of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 The 1978 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 44 km S 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 34.7132, -119.7402. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Barbara County, CA 34 km (21 mi) SW earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
Ventura County, CA 68 km (42 mi) SE earthquakes near Ventura County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 99 km (61 mi) NW earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Kern County, CA 116 km (72 mi) NE earthquakes near Kern County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 9km S of Montecito, CA
  2. 3.3 10km SSE of Santa Barbara, CA
  3. 1.8 24km NNE of Montecito, CA
  4. 1.7 24km NNE of Montecito, CA
  5. 1.7 14km NNW of Isla Vista, CA
  6. 2.0 6km NNW of Los Olivos, CA
  7. 1.9 7km NNW of Los Olivos, CA
  8. 1.6 19km SSE of Solvang, CA
  9. 1.5 18km SSE of Solvang, CA
  10. 1.9 7km W of Ojai, CA
  11. 2.0 12km SSE of Santa Barbara, CA
  12. 1.9 12km W of Isla Vista, CA
  13. 1.5 6km W of Ojai, CA
  14. 1.6 10km NNE of Los Alamos, CA
  15. 3.3 13km 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.

On USGS

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