QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9ml

Earthquake near Santa Barbara, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Barbara in the 24 hours to 5:16 am PST (13:16 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 15 km (9 mi) S, at 9:33 pm PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Santa Barbara

This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 25 km (16 mi) south-southeast of Santa Barbara, CA, at 4:27 am PST on 25 December 2021 (12:27 UTC), 1.2 km deep.

USGS: 21km NNW of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA

24 km (15 mi) SSE of Santa Barbara, CA · 111 km (69 mi) WNW of Los Angeles, CA

4:27 am PST, Dec 25, 2021 · · 1.2 km deep · released about 20 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Santa Barbara Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Ventura County 45 kmSanta Barbara County 55 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
4:27 am PST on 25 December 2021 ()
Where
25 km (16 mi) south-southeast of Santa Barbara, CA · earthquakes near Santa Barbara
Magnitude
M 1.9 (ml)
Depth
1.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Ventura County, 45 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
Mid-Channel 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 1773 days ago

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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Santa Barbara, 25 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: Carpinteria, Toro Canyon, Summerland, Montecito, Ventura, Mission Canyon.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 20 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 760,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 540,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 48× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 20 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 5.3 on 2018-04-05 — about 130,000 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 · 22 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 30 km SW of Channel Islands Beach, California · 25 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 10 km NE of Toro Canyon, California · 33 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 The 1941 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 13 km N of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 9 km SW of Channel Islands Beach, California · 29 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 34.2138, -119.5892. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Ventura County, CA 45 km (28 mi) ENE earthquakes near Ventura County
Santa Barbara County, CA 55 km (34 mi) NW earthquakes near Santa Barbara County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 4km SW of Santa Paula, CA
  2. 1.7 4km WSW of Ojai, CA
  3. 2.5 13km W of Isla Vista, CA
  4. 1.7 4km WSW of Ojai, CA
  5. 2.0 18km S of Santa Barbara, CA
  6. 2.2 6km NNE of Ojai, CA
  7. 2.3 5km WSW of Ojai, CA
  8. 2.5 5km WSW of Ojai, CA
  9. 1.8 10km NW of Santa Paula, CA
  10. 1.9 16km WSW of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
  11. 1.8 4km NW of Goleta, CA
  12. 1.8 4km W of Ojai, CA
  13. 2.6 5km WSW of Ojai, CA
  14. 1.7 5km W of Ojai, CA
  15. 2.8 5km W 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.