Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Montecito, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Montecito in the 24 hours to 11:40 am PST (19:40 UTC). The last one was M 2.7, 14 km (9 mi) WSW, at 8:40 am PDT on 5 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 59 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Montecito
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 30 km (18 mi) north-northeast of Montecito, CA, at 4:38 pm PDT on 30 March 2020 (23:38 UTC), 5.2 km deep.
USGS: 30km NNE of Montecito, CA
36 km (22 mi) NNE of Santa Barbara, CA · 127 km (79 mi) NW of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 4:38 pm PDT on 30 March 2020 ()
- Where
- 30 km (18 mi) north-northeast of Montecito, CA · earthquakes near Montecito
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.2 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Santa Barbara County, 50 km WSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Santa Ynez fault, 22 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 2417 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Montecito, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Montecito, CA. No account or email needed.
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 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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Montecito, 30 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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 8.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.7 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 2016-03-12 — about 5,400 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.8 The 1925 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 50 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.5 Southwest of Tejon Pass, California · 48 km E of this epicentre
- 5.5 10 km NE of Toro Canyon, California · 21 km S of this epicentre
- 5.5 The 1941 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 40 km S of this epicentre
- 5.1 The 1978 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 45 km SSW 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 34.6892, -119.5282. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 50 km (31 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Ventura County, CA | 52 km (32 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Kern County, CA | 103 km (64 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Kern County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 114 km (71 mi) | NW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 128 km (80 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
49 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.1 5km SSE of Santa Ynez, CA
- 2.4 5km SSE of Santa Ynez, CA
- 1.5 8km SW of Ojai, CA
- 1.6 8km SW of Ojai, CA
- 2.6 10km WNW of Ventura, CA
- 2.0 10km WNW of Ventura, CA
- 1.9 8km W of Ventura, CA
- 1.9 11km NE of Pine Mountain Club, CA
- 1.7 12km E of Ojai, CA
- 2.9 11km NNW of Santa Paula, CA
- 1.6 8km NW of Santa Paula, CA
- 2.6 12km E of Ojai, CA
- 1.6 10km NW of Santa Paula, CA
- 1.7 10km NNW of Santa Paula, CA
- 1.5 11km NNW of Santa Paula, 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.