QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9ml

Earthquake near Santa Maria, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Maria in the 24 hours to 3:19 pm PST (23:19 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 74 km (46 mi) NNW, at 9:54 am PST on 18 November 2025, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,099 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Santa Maria

This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 36 km (22 mi) southwest of Santa Maria, CA, at 1:00 am PST on 6 January 2019 (09:00 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

USGS: 17km W of Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA

34 km (21 mi) SW of Santa Maria, CA

1:00 am PST, Jan 6, 2019 · · -0.1 km deep · released about 25 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Santa Maria Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Barbara County 64 kmSan Luis Obispo County 78 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
1:00 am PST on 6 January 2019 ()
Where
36 km (22 mi) southwest of Santa Maria, CA · earthquakes near Santa Maria
Magnitude
M 1.9 (ml)
Depth
-0.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Santa Barbara County, 64 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Hosgri 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 2865 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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Santa Maria, 36 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: Vandenberg Space Force Base, Vandenberg Village, Lompoc, Mission Hills, Orcutt.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 25 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 620,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 440,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 39× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 25 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 4.3 on 2017-10-26 — about 3,800 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.9 The 1927 Lompoc, California Earthquake · 4 km S of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 Near Los Alamos, California · 29 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 Near Los Alamos, California · 37 km E of this epicentre
  4. 5.7 Near Los Alamos, California · 48 km ESE of this epicentre
  5. 5.0 5 km SSW of Nipomo, California · 36 km NNE 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 34.7193, -120.7050. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Barbara County, CA 64 km (40 mi) ESE earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 78 km (48 mi) NNE earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.9 41km WSW of Guadalupe, CA
  2. 2.0 7km ESE of Lompoc, CA
  3. 2.1 14km SSW of Lompoc, CA
  4. 2.6 24km SW of Lompoc, CA
  5. 2.3 38km WSW of Lompoc, CA
  6. 2.0 13km SW of Guadalupe, CA
  7. 2.4 42km SW of Lompoc, CA
  8. 2.0 3km ENE of Vandenberg Village, CA
  9. 2.3 26km SW of Lompoc, CA
  10. 1.6 10km SSE of Orcutt, CA
  11. 1.5 10km SSE of Orcutt, CA
  12. 2.3 6km E of Vandenberg Village, CA
  13. 1.9 3km NW of Vandenberg Village, CA
  14. 1.8 11km ENE of Santa Maria, CA
  15. 1.9 35km SW of Avila Beach, 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.