Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near Santa Ynez, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Ynez in the 24 hours to 1:33 pm PST (21:33 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 1.7 earthquake was recorded 9 km (5 mi) south-southeast of Santa Ynez, CA, at 11:13 am PDT on 9 October 2019 (18:13 UTC), 12 km deep.
USGS: 9km SSE of Santa Ynez, CA
33 km (21 mi) WNW of Santa Barbara, CA · 127 km (79 mi) SW of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 11:13 am PDT on 9 October 2019 ()
- Where
- 9 km (5 mi) south-southeast of Santa Ynez, CA · earthquakes near Santa Ynez
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Santa Barbara County, 1 km SW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Santa Ynez fault, 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 2590 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Santa Ynez, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Santa Ynez, 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 4 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Santa Ynez, 9 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Solvang, Los Olivos, Buellton, Isla Vista, Goleta.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 3,500 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.8 The 1925 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 35 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Los Alamos, California · 44 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Los Alamos, California · 30 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.7 Near Los Alamos, California · 17 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 10 km NE of Toro Canyon, California · 49 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 34.5473, -120.0287. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 1 km (1 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Ventura County, CA | 85 km (53 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 101 km (63 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Kern County, CA | 148 km (92 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Kern 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.
- 1.6 19km SSE of Solvang, CA
- 1.5 18km SSE of Solvang, CA
- 2.0 12km SSE of Santa Barbara, CA
- 1.9 12km W of Isla Vista, CA
- 1.6 10km NNE of Los Alamos, CA
- 3.3 13km W of Isla Vista, CA
- 2.0 15km SSE of Santa Barbara, CA
- 2.1 5km SSE of Santa Ynez, CA
- 2.4 5km SSE of Santa Ynez, CA
- 3.9 6km SSE of Santa Ynez, CA
- 1.7 13km NNE of Los Olivos, CA
- 1.7 8km WSW of Isla Vista, CA
- 1.5 14km W of Isla Vista, CA
- 2.6 18km SSW of Lompoc, CA
- 1.7 20km NNE of Santa Cruz Is. (NW 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
- 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.