QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1ml

Earthquake near Santa Maria, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Maria in the 24 hours to 8:19 am PST (16:19 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 2.1 earthquake was recorded 18 km (11 mi) southwest of Santa Maria, CA, at 5:01 pm PDT on 14 April 2019 (00:01 UTC), 1.9 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 12km NNW of Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA

16 km (10 mi) SW of Santa Maria, CA

5:01 pm PDT, Apr 14, 2019 · · 1.9 km deep · released about 46 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Santa Maria Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Barbara County 60 kmSan Luis Obispo County 62 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
5:01 pm PDT on 14 April 2019 ()
Where
18 km (11 mi) southwest of Santa Maria, CA · earthquakes near Santa Maria
Magnitude
M 2.1 (ml)
Depth
1.9 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Santa Barbara County, 60 km SE
Nearest mapped fault
Hosgri fault, 13 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 2759 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 17 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Santa Maria, 18 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: Orcutt 13 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 46 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 330,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 230,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 21× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 46 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 2,100 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 · 22 km SSW of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 Near Los Alamos, California · 17 km ESE of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 Near Los Alamos, California · 30 km ESE of this epicentre
  4. 5.7 Near Los Alamos, California · 44 km SE of this epicentre
  5. 5.0 5 km SSW of Nipomo, California · 19 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 34.8437, -120.5762. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Barbara County, CA 60 km (37 mi) SE earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 62 km (38 mi) N earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 7km NNW of Los Olivos, CA
  2. 1.8 11km ENE of Santa Maria, CA
  3. 1.9 6km SW of San Luis Obispo, CA
  4. 1.9 35km SW of Avila Beach, CA
  5. 1.9 27km W of Guadalupe, CA
  6. 2.2 36km WSW of Guadalupe, CA
  7. 2.1 32km WSW of Guadalupe, CA
  8. 2.5 22km SW of Lompoc, CA
  9. 1.6 10km NNE of Los Alamos, CA
  10. 2.0 23km NNE of Nipomo, CA
  11. 1.5 4km E of Avila Beach, CA
  12. 2.5 40km SW of Avila Beach, CA
  13. 1.7 13km NNE of Los Olivos, CA
  14. 2.6 18km SSW of Lompoc, CA
  15. 2.4 16km W 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.