Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Montecito, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Montecito in the 24 hours to 6:38 am PST (14:38 UTC). The last one was M 2.7, 14 km (9 mi) WSW, at 8:40 am PDT on 5 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 59 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Montecito
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 9 km (5 mi) south of Montecito, CA, at 10:48 pm PDT on 26 May 2021 (05:48 UTC), 9.6 km deep.
USGS: 9km S of Montecito, CA
8 km (5 mi) SE of Santa Barbara, CA · 119 km (74 mi) WNW of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 10:48 pm PDT on 26 May 2021 ()
- Where
- 9 km (5 mi) south of Montecito, CA · earthquakes near Montecito
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 9.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Santa Barbara County, 41 km WNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Red Mountain 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 1995 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Montecito, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Montecito, 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 Montecito, 9 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.
Likely felt in: Santa Barbara 9 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
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 5.7 730,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 65× 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 4.1 on 2017-05-17 — about 2,500 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 · 16 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.5 30 km SW of Channel Islands Beach, California · 42 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.5 10 km NE of Toro Canyon, California · 21 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.5 The 1941 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 8 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.2 9 km SW of Channel Islands Beach, California · 43 km SE 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 34.3577, -119.6427. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 41 km (26 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Ventura County, CA | 47 km (29 mi) | E | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 136 km (85 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Kern County, CA | 138 km (86 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Kern County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
51 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 10km NW of Santa Paula, CA
- 3.9 10km NW of Santa Paula, CA
- 2.3 10km NW of Santa Paula, CA
- 2.0 10km NW of Santa Paula, CA
- 2.4 1km NW of Goleta, CA
- 1.6 6km W of Ojai, CA
- 1.9 1km WSW of Goleta, CA
- 1.8 18km SSW of Santa Barbara, CA
- 1.5 20km NNE of Carpinteria, CA
- 1.9 4km WSW of Ojai, CA
- 3.2 5km WSW of Ojai, CA
- 1.8 25km NNE of Montecito, CA
- 1.8 20km NNW of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
- 2.2 21km SSW of Carpinteria, CA
- 1.9 21km NNW of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), 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.