QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4ml

Earthquake near Santa Ynez, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Ynez in the 24 hours to 10:35 am PST (18:35 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 2.4 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) south-southeast of Santa Ynez, CA, at 8:39 pm PDT on 5 September 2020 (03:39 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: 5km SSE of Santa Ynez, CA

36 km (23 mi) WNW of Santa Barbara, CA · 127 km (79 mi) SW of Bakersfield, CA

8:39 pm PDT, Sep 5, 2020 · · 11 km deep · released about 130 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Santa Ynez Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Barbara County 4 kmVentura County 87 kmSan Luis Obispo County 98 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
8:39 pm PDT on 5 September 2020 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) south-southeast of Santa Ynez, CA · earthquakes near Santa Ynez
Magnitude
M 2.4 (ml)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Santa Barbara County, 4 km SSE
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 2256 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 18 km (11 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 130 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 120,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 83,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 7.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 130 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 290 times the energy of this one.

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

  1. 6.8 The 1925 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 38 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 Near Los Alamos, California · 41 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 Near Los Alamos, California · 27 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.7 Near Los Alamos, California · 14 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 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 34.5735, -120.0508. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Barbara County, CA 4 km (3 mi) SSE 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

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

  1. 1.8 18km NNW of Santa Cruz Is. (NW end), CA
  2. 2.4 18km NNW of Santa Cruz Is. (NW end), CA
  3. 1.9 5km SE of Goleta, CA
  4. 2.5 13km W of Isla Vista, CA
  5. 2.0 18km S of Santa Barbara, CA
  6. 2.0 7km ESE of Lompoc, CA
  7. 1.8 4km NW of Goleta, CA
  8. 2.1 14km SSW of Lompoc, CA
  9. 2.4 1km NW of Goleta, CA
  10. 1.9 1km WSW of Goleta, CA
  11. 1.8 18km SSW of Santa Barbara, CA
  12. 1.8 25km NNE of Montecito, CA
  13. 1.7 14km WSW of Isla Vista, CA
  14. 2.0 17km SSW of Santa Barbara, CA
  15. 1.8 18km 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.