Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Orcutt, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Orcutt in the 24 hours to 9:21 am PST (17:21 UTC). The last one was M 1.8, 8 km (5 mi) WSW, at 2:02 pm PDT on 18 April 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Orcutt
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) south-southeast of Orcutt, CA, at 12:26 am PDT on 1 June 2021 (07:26 UTC), 3.6 km deep.
USGS: 10km SSE of Orcutt, CA
17 km (11 mi) SSE of Santa Maria, CA
- When
- 12:26 am PDT on 1 June 2021 ()
- Where
- 10 km (6 mi) south-southeast of Orcutt, CA · earthquakes near Orcutt
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 3.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Santa Barbara County, 43 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Los Alamos fault, 6 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 1990 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Orcutt, CA
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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 Orcutt, 10 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: Orcutt 10 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 4.3 on 2017-10-26 — about 18,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.9 The 1927 Lompoc, California Earthquake · 31 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Los Alamos, California · 2 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Los Alamos, California · 13 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.7 Near Los Alamos, California · 27 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.0 5 km SSW of Nipomo, California · 26 km NNW 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 34.7863, -120.3952. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 43 km (27 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 67 km (42 mi) | N | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Ventura County, CA | 125 km (78 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Ventura County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
40 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.2 19 km SSW of Lompoc, CA
- 1.5 8 km ESE of Lompoc, CA
- 2.0 17 km W of Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA
- 1.6 22 km SW of Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA
- 2.0 18 km W of Isla Vista, CA
- 1.6 10 km NW of Los Olivos, CA
- 1.8 4 km SW of Solvang, CA
- 1.6 10 km NW of Los Olivos, CA
- 2.3 21 km S of Solvang, CA
- 1.6 8 km SE of Los Alamos, CA
- 1.7 10 km ENE of Los Olivos, CA
- 1.5 7 km NW of Los Olivos, CA
- 1.8 10km W of Orcutt, CA
- 1.5 17km SSE of Lompoc, CA
- 2.0 9km NW of Los Alamos, 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.