Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Ojai, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Ojai in the 24 hours to 5:07 am PST (13:07 UTC). The last one was M 1.5, 7 km (5 mi) S, at 2:56 am PST on 6 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Ojai
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) west of Ojai, CA, at 8:02 am PST on 5 November 2020 (16:02 UTC), 7.5 km deep.
USGS: 5km W of Ojai, CA
94 km (59 mi) WNW of Los Angeles, CA · 20 km (12 mi) NNW of San Buenaventura (Ventura), CA
- When
- 8:02 am PST on 5 November 2020 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) west of Ojai, CA · earthquakes near Ojai
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.5 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Ventura County, 18 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Mission Ridge fault system, 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 2198 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Ojai, CA
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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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Ojai, 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: Ojai 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 17 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 900,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 640,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 57× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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 2,800 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.8 The 1925 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 49 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.5 Southwest of Tejon Pass, California · 40 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.5 10 km NE of Toro Canyon, California · 19 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 The 1941 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 27 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.2 9 km SW of Channel Islands Beach, California · 38 km S 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 34.4433, -119.2998. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ventura County, CA | 18 km (11 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 68 km (43 mi) | W | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 99 km (62 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Kern County, CA | 113 km (70 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Kern County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 148 km (92 mi) | NW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
46 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.3 13km SE of Carpinteria, CA
- 2.0 15km SSE of Carpinteria, CA
- 1.7 13km SE of Carpinteria, CA
- 1.8 12km SE of Carpinteria, CA
- 1.8 9km S of Montecito, CA
- 3.3 10km SSE of Santa Barbara, CA
- 1.8 20km N of Fillmore, CA
- 1.6 15km ENE of Ojai, CA
- 1.8 24km NNE of Montecito, CA
- 1.7 24km NNE of Montecito, CA
- 1.9 1km W of Piru, CA
- 2.1 21km S of Santa Barbara, CA
- 1.5 20km SSW of Frazier Park, CA
- 1.8 20km SSW of Frazier Park, CA
- 1.8 20km SSW of Frazier Park, 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.