QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.5ml

Earthquake near Carpinteria, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Carpinteria in the 24 hours to 5:12 am PST (13:12 UTC). The last one was M 1.9, 11 km (7 mi) E, at 1:23 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Carpinteria

This page: a magnitude 3.5 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) southeast of Carpinteria, CA, at 10:38 pm PST on 8 December 2021 (06:38 UTC), 7.3 km deep. 219 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 11km SE of Carpinteria, CA

19 km (12 mi) WNW of San Buenaventura (Ventura), CA · 101 km (63 mi) WNW of Los Angeles, CA

10:38 pm PST, Dec 8, 2021 · · 7.3 km deep · released about 2.6 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Carpinteria Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Ventura County 30 kmSanta Barbara County 59 kmLos Angeles County 110 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
10:38 pm PST on 8 December 2021 ()
Where
11 km (7 mi) southeast of Carpinteria, CA · earthquakes near Carpinteria
Magnitude
M 3.5 (ml)
Depth
7.3 km below the surface
Felt
219 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Measured shaking
intensity IV (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Ventura County, 30 km E
Nearest mapped fault
Pitas Point fault, 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 1634 days ago

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 63 km (39 mi) from the epicentre. In Carpinteria, 11 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: Carpinteria 11 km, intensity III · Ventura 15 km, intensity III · Ojai 24 km, intensity III · Santa Barbara 25 km, intensity II · Oxnard 29 km, intensity II · Santa Paula 36 km, intensity II · Goleta 37 km, intensity II · Isla Vista 39 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 2.6 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 65,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,900× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,100× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.5 about 2.6 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 5.4× 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 2016-03-12 — about 9.1 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.8 The 1925 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 32 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 30 km SW of Channel Islands Beach, California · 36 km S of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 10 km NE of Toro Canyon, California · 21 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 The 1941 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 10 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 9 km SW of Channel Islands Beach, California · 28 km SSE 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 34.3185, -119.4527. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Ventura County, CA 30 km (18 mi) E earthquakes near Ventura County
Santa Barbara County, CA 59 km (37 mi) WNW earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
Los Angeles County, CA 110 km (69 mi) E earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Kern County, CA 132 km (82 mi) NNE earthquakes near Kern County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 150 km (93 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

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

  1. 2.2 6km NNE of Ojai, CA
  2. 2.3 5km WSW of Ojai, CA
  3. 2.5 5km WSW of Ojai, CA
  4. 1.8 10km NW of Santa Paula, CA
  5. 1.9 16km WSW of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
  6. 1.9 11km S of Camarillo, CA
  7. 1.8 4km NW of Goleta, CA
  8. 2.0 9km NNE of Camarillo, CA
  9. 1.8 4km W of Ojai, CA
  10. 2.6 5km WSW of Ojai, CA
  11. 1.7 5km W of Ojai, CA
  12. 2.8 5km W of Ojai, CA
  13. 1.7 5km WSW of Ojai, CA
  14. 2.0 6km WSW of Ojai, CA
  15. 1.9 4km WNW of Ojai, 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.