Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.3ml
Earthquake near Isla Vista, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Isla Vista in the 24 hours to 4:45 am PST (12:45 UTC). The last one was M 1.7, 9 km (5 mi) ESE, at 8:42 am PDT on 5 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Isla Vista
This page: a magnitude 3.3 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) west of Isla Vista, CA, at 8:15 am PST on 10 November 2020 (16:15 UTC), less than 1 km deep. 403 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 13km W of Isla Vista, CA
27 km (17 mi) W of Santa Barbara, CA · 137 km (85 mi) SW of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 8:15 am PST on 10 November 2020 ()
- Where
- 13 km (8 mi) west of Isla Vista, CA · earthquakes near Isla Vista
- Magnitude
- M 3.3 (ml)
- Depth
- 0.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- 403 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Nearest
- Santa Barbara County, 15 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Pitas Point fault, 4 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 2119 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Isla Vista, 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 49 km (30 mi) from the epicentre. In Isla Vista, 13 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: Isla Vista 13 km, intensity III · Goleta 17 km, intensity III · Santa Ynez 24 km, intensity II · Santa Barbara 28 km, intensity II · Carpinteria 45 km, intensity II · Los Alamos 45 km, intensity II · Lompoc 49 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1.1 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.3 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 150,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 6,700× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 4,700× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.3 about 1.1 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 2.4× 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 4.1 on 2017-05-17 — about 16 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 · 22 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Los Alamos, California · 42 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.7 Near Los Alamos, California · 28 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.5 10 km NE of Toro Canyon, California · 47 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.5 The 1941 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 41 km ESE 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 34.4075, -120.0048. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 15 km (9 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Ventura County, CA | 80 km (50 mi) | E | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 116 km (72 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Kern County, CA | 156 km (97 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Kern County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
44 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 13km SSW of Santa Barbara, CA
- 1.8 18km NNW of Santa Cruz Is. (NW end), CA
- 2.4 18km NNW of Santa Cruz Is. (NW end), CA
- 1.9 5km SE of Goleta, CA
- 2.5 13km W of Isla Vista, CA
- 2.0 18km S of Santa Barbara, CA
- 2.0 7km ESE of Lompoc, CA
- 1.8 4km NW of Goleta, CA
- 2.4 1km NW of Goleta, CA
- 1.9 1km WSW of Goleta, CA
- 1.8 18km SSW of Santa Barbara, CA
- 1.8 20km NNW of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
- 2.2 21km SSW of Carpinteria, CA
- 1.9 21km NNW of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
- 1.7 14km WSW of Isla Vista, 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.