Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Santa Ynez, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Ynez in the 24 hours to 8:45 am PST (16:45 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 16 km (10 mi) NNW, at 9:54 am PDT on 23 March 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Santa Ynez
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) southeast of Santa Ynez, CA, at 12:06 am PST on 15 January 2019 (08:06 UTC), 10 km deep.
USGS: 5km SE of Santa Ynez, CA
36 km (22 mi) WNW of Santa Barbara, CA · 126 km (78 mi) SW of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 12:06 am PST on 15 January 2019 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) southeast of Santa Ynez, CA · earthquakes near Santa Ynez
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Santa Barbara County, 5 km S
- Nearest mapped fault
- Santa Ynez 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 2858 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Santa Ynez, CA
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Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Santa Ynez, 5 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: Santa Ynez 5 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 13 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 840,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 75× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 13 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 2,900 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.8 The 1925 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 38 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Los Alamos, California · 41 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Los Alamos, California · 27 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.7 Near Los Alamos, California · 15 km W of this epicentre
- 5.1 The 1978 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 42 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 34.5772, -120.0418. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 5 km (3 mi) | S | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Ventura County, CA | 87 km (54 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 98 km (61 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
40 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 6km WSW of Isla Vista, CA
- 1.7 7km ENE of Los Olivos, CA
- 1.6 30km NNE of Montecito, CA
- 1.8 19km SSW of Lompoc, CA
- 2.6 20km SSW of Lompoc, CA
- 1.7 19km SSW of Lompoc, CA
- 2.3 32km NNE of Goleta, CA
- 1.8 12km NNE of Los Olivos, CA
- 2.6 12km SSW of Lompoc, CA
- 2.1 13km SSW of Lompoc, CA
- 1.6 13km NNE of Los Alamos, CA
- 1.8 12km NNE of Goleta, CA
- 2.0 13km SSW of Lompoc, CA
- 2.0 8km ESE of Santa Ynez, CA
- 1.8 9km NNW of Santa Barbara, 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.