QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2ml

4km ESE of Orcutt, CA

· 1.4 km deep · released about 1.1 tons of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Barbara County 48 kmSan Luis Obispo County 60 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 3.2 (ml)
Depth
1.4 km below the surface
Felt
374 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Santa Barbara County, 48 km SE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2773 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 374 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1.1 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 160,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7,200× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,100× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1.1 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2.2× more

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 34.8510, -120.3963. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Santa Barbara County, CA 48 km (30 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 60 km (37 mi) S of here earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Ventura County, CA 128 km (79 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Ventura County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.6 18km SSW of Lompoc, CA
  2. 1.9 20km NE of Arroyo Grande, CA
  3. 2.1 21km SSW of Lompoc, CA
  4. 2.7 6km NNE of Los Alamos, CA
  5. 1.8 9km NE of Los Alamos, CA
  6. 2.4 4km NE of Orcutt, CA
  7. 1.7 7km ENE of Los Olivos, CA
  8. 1.8 19km SSW of Lompoc, CA
  9. 2.6 20km SSW of Lompoc, CA
  10. 1.7 19km SSW of Lompoc, CA
  11. 1.8 12km NNE of Los Olivos, CA
  12. 2.6 12km SSW of Lompoc, CA
  13. 2.1 13km SSW of Lompoc, CA
  14. 1.6 13km NNE of Los Alamos, CA
  15. 2.0 13km SSW of Lompoc, 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.