Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Oxnard, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Oxnard in the 24 hours to 9:09 am PST (17:09 UTC). The last one was M 3.8, 44 km (27 mi) ENE, at 8:00 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 199 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Oxnard
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 39 km (24 mi) west of Oxnard, CA, at 7:09 pm PST on 25 December 2021 (03:09 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 20km NNW of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
25 km (16 mi) SSE of Santa Barbara, CA · 111 km (69 mi) W of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 7:09 pm PST on 25 December 2021 ()
- Where
- 39 km (24 mi) west of Oxnard, CA · earthquakes near Oxnard
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 0.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Ventura County, 46 km ENE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Mid-Channel 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 1772 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Oxnard, CA
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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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Oxnard, 39 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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, Summerland, Toro Canyon, Santa Barbara, Montecito, Ventura.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 15 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 170,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.8 The 1925 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 22 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 30 km SW of Channel Islands Beach, California · 24 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.5 10 km NE of Toro Canyon, California · 35 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.5 The 1941 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 15 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.2 9 km SW of Channel Islands Beach, California · 30 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 34.1967, -119.5993. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ventura County, CA | 46 km (29 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
45 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 8km WSW of Santa Paula, CA
- 1.9 5km SE of Goleta, CA
- 1.7 4km SW of Santa Paula, CA
- 1.7 4km WSW of Ojai, CA
- 2.5 13km W of Isla Vista, CA
- 1.7 4km WSW of Ojai, CA
- 2.0 18km S of Santa Barbara, CA
- 2.2 6km NNE of Ojai, CA
- 2.3 5km WSW of Ojai, CA
- 2.5 5km WSW of Ojai, CA
- 1.8 10km NW of Santa Paula, CA
- 1.9 16km WSW of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
- 1.8 4km NW of Goleta, CA
- 1.8 4km W of Ojai, CA
- 2.6 5km WSW 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
- 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.