Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Maricopa, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Maricopa in the 24 hours to 7:40 am PST (15:40 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 51 km (32 mi) ESE, at 3:38 am PDT on 12 July 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 798 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Maricopa
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 29 km (18 mi) west-southwest of Maricopa, CA, at 9:20 am PST on 14 December 2019 (17:20 UTC), 6.9 km deep.
USGS: 29km WSW of Maricopa, CA
74 km (46 mi) SW of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 9:20 am PST on 14 December 2019 ()
- Where
- 29 km (18 mi) west-southwest of Maricopa, CA · earthquakes near Maricopa
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 6.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Santa Barbara County, 57 km SSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, 15 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 2522 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Maricopa, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Maricopa, 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Maricopa, 29 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Taft Heights, South Taft, Taft.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.1 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 2,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.1 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.
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 34.9635, -119.6960. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 57 km (35 mi) | SSW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 83 km (52 mi) | NW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Ventura County, CA | 85 km (53 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Kern County, CA | 98 km (61 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Kern County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
43 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 19km E of Maricopa, CA
- 2.0 19km E of Maricopa, CA
- 1.5 20km NNE of Carpinteria, CA
- 1.8 25km NNE of Montecito, CA
- 3.0 15km SSE of Buttonwillow, CA
- 3.9 15km SSE of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.5 11km NW of Pine Mountain Club, CA
- 1.6 14km SW of Taft, CA
- 2.0 25km NNE of Montecito, CA
- 1.6 16km SW of Buttonwillow, CA
- 1.6 25km NNE of Montecito, CA
- 1.7 25km NNE of Montecito, CA
- 1.6 19km N of Pine Mountain Club, CA
- 1.6 19km ENE of Maricopa, CA
- 1.6 15km W of Taft, 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.