QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5ml

Earthquake near Oxnard, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Oxnard in the 24 hours to 10:44 am PST (18:44 UTC). The last one was M 3.8, 44 km (27 mi) ENE, at 8:00 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 199 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Oxnard

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 39 km (24 mi) south-southwest of Oxnard, CA, at 1:57 am PDT on 24 July 2020 (08:57 UTC), 1.6 km deep.

USGS: 22km SE of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA

89 km (55 mi) W of Los Angeles, CA · 38 km (24 mi) SSW of Oxnard, CA

1:57 am PDT, Jul 24, 2020 · · 1.6 km deep · released about 140 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Oxnard Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Ventura County 57 kmSanta Barbara County 96 kmLos Angeles County 107 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
1:57 am PDT on 24 July 2020 ()
Where
39 km (24 mi) south-southwest of Oxnard, CA · earthquakes near Oxnard
Magnitude
M 2.5 (ml)
Depth
1.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Ventura County, 57 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault
Santa Cruz fault, under 1 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 2231 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 21 km (13 mi) from the epicentre. In Oxnard, 39 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 140 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 110,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 75,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 6.7× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 140 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 5.3 on 2018-04-05 — about 18,000 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. 5.5 30 km SW of Channel Islands Beach, California · 18 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 11km NNW of Santa Barbara Is., CA · 43 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.3 The 1973 Point Mugu, California Earthquake · 31 km ENE of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 9 km SW of Channel Islands Beach, California · 25 km NNE of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 9km SSE of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA · 13 km NW 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 33.8812, -119.3643. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Ventura County, CA 57 km (36 mi) NNE earthquakes near Ventura County
Santa Barbara County, CA 96 km (59 mi) NW earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
Los Angeles County, CA 107 km (67 mi) ENE earthquakes near Los Angeles County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 30km SE of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
  2. 2.3 19km WSW of Ventura, CA
  3. 1.9 19km WSW of Ventura, CA
  4. 2.6 14km W of Malibu, CA
  5. 1.7 13km WNW of Malibu, CA
  6. 3.3 24km SE of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
  7. 2.0 15km S of Port Hueneme, CA
  8. 2.3 6km NW of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
  9. 1.6 12km WNW of Malibu, CA
  10. 2.2 11km SSE of Santa Cruz Is. (NW end), CA
  11. 2.6 6km NNW of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
  12. 1.7 12km WSW of Ventura, CA
  13. 1.8 25km SE of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
  14. 2.4 24km NW of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
  15. 2.0 16km S of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), 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.