Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.9ml
Earthquake near Santa Ynez, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Ynez in the 24 hours to 11:44 am PST (19:44 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 3.9 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) south-southeast of Santa Ynez, CA, at 6:48 pm PDT on 5 September 2020 (01:48 UTC), 13 km deep. 524 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 6km SSE of Santa Ynez, CA
37 km (23 mi) WNW of Santa Barbara, CA · 128 km (80 mi) SW of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 6:48 pm PDT on 5 September 2020 ()
- Where
- 6 km (4 mi) south-southeast of Santa Ynez, CA · earthquakes near Santa Ynez
- Magnitude
- M 3.9 (ml)
- Depth
- 13 km below the surface
- Felt
- 524 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Measured shaking
- intensity IV (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Santa Barbara County, 4 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Santa Ynez 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 2186 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Santa Ynez, CA
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Alerts are on for .
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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 88 km (55 mi) from the epicentre. In Santa Ynez, 6 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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 6 km, intensity III · Isla Vista 25 km, intensity III · Goleta 26 km, intensity III · Los Alamos 28 km, intensity III · Santa Barbara 37 km, intensity III · Lompoc 37 km, intensity III · Orcutt 48 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 11 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 16,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 710× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 500× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.9 about 11 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 22× 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.
For this area
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.1 on 2017-05-17 — about 1.7 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 NW of this epicentre
- 5.7 Near Los Alamos, California · 13 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.1 The 1978 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 43 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 34.5640, -120.0620. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 4 km (2 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Ventura County, CA | 88 km (55 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
47 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.4 18km NNW of Santa Cruz Is. (NW end), CA
- 1.9 5km SE of Goleta, CA
- 2.5 13km W of Isla Vista, CA
- 2.0 18km S of Santa Barbara, CA
- 2.0 7km ESE of Lompoc, CA
- 1.8 4km NW of Goleta, CA
- 2.1 14km SSW of Lompoc, CA
- 2.4 1km NW of Goleta, CA
- 1.9 1km WSW of Goleta, CA
- 1.8 18km SSW of Santa Barbara, CA
- 1.7 14km WSW of Isla Vista, CA
- 2.0 17km SSW of Santa Barbara, CA
- 1.8 18km SSW of Santa Barbara, CA
- 2.9 22km SSW of Santa Barbara, CA
- 2.6 17km SSW 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.