Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Santa Paula, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Paula in the 24 hours to 12:35 pm PST (20:35 UTC). The last one was M 1.9, 9 km (6 mi) NW, at 2:39 am PDT on 23 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Santa Paula
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) north-northwest of Santa Paula, CA, at 6:06 am PDT on 19 August 2020 (13:06 UTC), 5.7 km deep.
USGS: 11km NNW of Santa Paula, CA
80 km (50 mi) NW of Los Angeles, CA · 23 km (14 mi) NNE of San Buenaventura (Ventura), CA
- When
- 6:06 am PDT on 19 August 2020 ()
- Where
- 11 km (7 mi) north-northwest of Santa Paula, CA · earthquakes near Santa Paula
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 5.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Ventura County, 9 km S
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Cayetano fault, 3 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 2274 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Santa Paula, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Santa Paula, 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 Santa Paula, 11 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: Ojai, Meiners Oaks, Mira Monte, Oak View, Saticoy, Fillmore.
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
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.1 on 2016-03-12 — about 6,700 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.6 7km NNE of Simi Valley, California · 41 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.5 Southwest of Tejon Pass, California · 31 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.5 10 km NE of Toro Canyon, California · 35 km W of this epicentre
- 5.5 The 1941 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 43 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.2 9 km SW of Channel Islands Beach, California · 41 km SSW 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 34.4403, -119.1208. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ventura County, CA | 9 km (6 mi) | S | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 83 km (52 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 85 km (53 mi) | W | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Kern County, CA | 107 km (66 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Kern County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
55 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 14km SSW of Frazier Park, CA
- 2.8 17km N of Fillmore, CA
- 2.8 16km N of Fillmore, CA
- 1.7 16km N of Fillmore, CA
- 1.7 16km N of Fillmore, CA
- 1.7 10km SSE of Ojai, CA
- 1.5 6km W of Ojai, CA
- 1.7 18km N of Fillmore, CA
- 1.7 15km NW of Fillmore, CA
- 2.0 4km WNW of Fillmore, CA
- 1.8 5km ESE of Simi Valley, CA
- 1.6 6km NE of Ventura, CA
- 1.5 7km WSW of Ojai, CA
- 1.6 18km N of Fillmore, CA
- 1.6 18km N of Fillmore, 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.