QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Ojai, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Ojai in the 24 hours to 6:15 am PST (14:15 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) northeast of Ojai, CA, at 2:26 am PDT on 16 June 2020 (09:26 UTC), 17 km deep.

USGS: 16km NE of Ojai, CA

85 km (53 mi) NW of Los Angeles, CA · 32 km (20 mi) NNE of San Buenaventura (Ventura), CA

2:26 am PDT, Jun 16, 2020 · · 17 km deep · released about 6.6 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Ventura County 19 kmSanta Barbara County 86 kmLos Angeles County 86 kmKern County 97 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
2:26 am PDT on 16 June 2020 ()
Where
16 km (10 mi) northeast of Ojai, CA · earthquakes near Ojai
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Ventura County, 19 km S
Nearest mapped fault
Santa Ynez fault, under 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 2338 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Ojai, 16 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: Meiners Oaks, Mira Monte, Santa Paula, Fillmore, Oak View, Saticoy.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.6 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.6 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 7,200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.5 The 1952 Kern County, California Earthquake · 48 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 Tejon Pass, California · 45 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 13km WNW of Grapevine, CA · 49 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 7km NNE of Simi Valley, California · 44 km ESE of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 Southwest of Tejon Pass, California · 21 km NNE 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 34.5312, -119.1047. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Ventura County, CA 19 km (12 mi) S earthquakes near Ventura County
Santa Barbara County, CA 86 km (53 mi) W earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
Los Angeles County, CA 86 km (53 mi) ESE earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Kern County, CA 97 km (60 mi) NNE earthquakes near Kern County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

59 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 2.1 6km WSW of Santa Paula, CA
  2. 1.8 4km WSW of Ojai, CA
  3. 2.0 21km N of Fillmore, CA
  4. 1.9 8km NNW of Ventura, CA
  5. 1.6 17km S of Carpinteria, CA
  6. 1.7 17km SSE of Carpinteria, CA
  7. 1.7 15km N of Castaic, CA
  8. 1.6 10km SE of Port Hueneme, CA
  9. 1.6 7km W of Ojai, CA
  10. 2.2 3km NNE of Camarillo, CA
  11. 1.5 6km WSW of Ojai, CA
  12. 2.0 7km W of Ojai, CA
  13. 2.0 6km WSW of Ojai, CA
  14. 2.3 7km WSW of Ojai, CA
  15. 1.5 11km NE of Carpinteria, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.