QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

11km ENE of Santa Maria, CA

· 2.6 km deep · released about 16 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N San Luis Obispo County 46 kmSanta Barbara County 56 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
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
2.6 km below the surface
Felt
3 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
San Luis Obispo County, 46 km NNW
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1510 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 3 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 16 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 930,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 660,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 59× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 16 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.

Where

Epicentre 34.9870, -120.3212. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
San Luis Obispo County, CA 46 km (29 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Santa Barbara County, CA 56 km (35 mi) NNW of here earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
Ventura County, CA 129 km (80 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near Ventura 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. 1.5 8 km ESE of Lompoc, CA
  2. 2.0 17 km W of Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA
  3. 2.5 16 km W of Simmler, CA
  4. 1.5 4 km NW of San Luis Obispo, CA
  5. 1.6 10 km NW of Los Olivos, CA
  6. 1.8 4 km SW of Solvang, CA
  7. 1.6 10 km NW of Los Olivos, CA
  8. 1.5 18 km ESE of Santa Margarita, CA
  9. 1.6 8 km SE of Los Alamos, CA
  10. 1.7 10 km ENE of Los Olivos, CA
  11. 1.5 7 km NW of Los Olivos, CA
  12. 1.9 24 km ESE of Santa Margarita, CA
  13. 1.8 10km W of Orcutt, CA
  14. 2.0 9km NW of Los Alamos, CA
  15. 1.5 9km E of San Luis Obispo, 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.