QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 4.0mw

Earthquake near Port Hueneme, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Port Hueneme in the 24 hours to 4:06 am PST (12:06 UTC). The last one was M 3.8, 48 km (30 mi) NE, at 8:00 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 199 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Port Hueneme

This page: a magnitude 4.0 earthquake was recorded 26 km (16 mi) south of Port Hueneme, CA, at 2:13 am PST on 2 January 2020 (10:13 UTC), 5.9 km deep. 1,967 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 26km S of Port Hueneme, CA

76 km (47 mi) W of Los Angeles, CA · 31 km (20 mi) S of Oxnard, CA

2:13 am PST, Jan 2, 2020 · · 5.9 km deep · released about 17 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Port Hueneme Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Ventura County 50 kmLos Angeles County 94 kmSanta Barbara County 101 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
2:13 am PST on 2 January 2020 ()
Where
26 km (16 mi) south of Port Hueneme, CA · earthquakes near Port Hueneme
Magnitude
M 4.0 (mw)
Depth
5.9 km below the surface
Felt
1,967 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking
intensity IV (ShakeMap)
USGS impact alert
green
Tsunami
USGS flagged this event for tsunami evaluation. Follow tsunami.gov for official messages.
Nearest
Ventura County, 50 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Dume 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 758 days ago

This was a light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 99 km (62 mi) from the epicentre. In Port Hueneme, 26 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: Oxnard 32 km, intensity III · Camarillo 38 km, intensity III · Ventura 41 km, intensity III · Thousand Oaks 46 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 17 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 10,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 450× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 320× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 4.0 about 17 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 35× 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 5.3 on 2018-04-05 — about 78 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 · 27 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 11km NNW of Santa Barbara Is., CA · 41 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.3 The 1973 Point Mugu, California Earthquake · 18 km ENE of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 9 km SW of Channel Islands Beach, California · 21 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 13km S of Malibu Beach, CA · 50 km E 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 33.9173, -119.2283. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Ventura County, CA 50 km (31 mi) N earthquakes near Ventura County
Los Angeles County, CA 94 km (59 mi) ENE earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Santa Barbara County, CA 101 km (63 mi) NW earthquakes near Santa Barbara County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 17km S of Carpinteria, CA
  2. 1.7 17km SSE of Carpinteria, CA
  3. 1.9 1km S of Malibu, CA
  4. 1.6 10km SE of Port Hueneme, CA
  5. 2.2 3km NNE of Camarillo, CA
  6. 2.1 2km S of Malibu, CA
  7. 1.6 13km SE of Port Hueneme, CA
  8. 2.6 10km WNW of Ventura, CA
  9. 2.0 10km WNW of Ventura, CA
  10. 1.9 8km W of Ventura, CA
  11. 1.5 7km NE of Oxnard, CA
  12. 2.5 22km SE of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
  13. 1.7 15km SSW of Thousand Oaks, CA
  14. 2.4 4km ENE of Port Hueneme, CA
  15. 2.2 30km SE 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.