QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6ml

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 2.6 earthquake was recorded 37 km (23 mi) west-southwest of Oxnard, CA, at 2:05 pm PDT on 25 August 2021 (21:05 UTC), 6.0 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 6km NNW of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA

34 km (21 mi) WSW of Oxnard, CA · 105 km (65 mi) W of Los Angeles, CA

2:05 pm PDT, Aug 25, 2021 · · 6.0 km deep · released about 260 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Oxnard Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Ventura County 49 kmSanta Barbara County 68 kmLos Angeles County 119 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
2:05 pm PDT on 25 August 2021 ()
Where
37 km (23 mi) west-southwest of Oxnard, CA · earthquakes near Oxnard
Magnitude
M 2.6 (ml)
Depth
6.0 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Ventura County, 49 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
Santa Cruz Island fault, 11 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 1836 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 23 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. In Oxnard, 37 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 260 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 59,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 42,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.7× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 260 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 10,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.8 The 1925 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 34 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 30 km SW of Channel Islands Beach, California · 10 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 10 km NE of Toro Canyon, California · 47 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 The 1941 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 28 km N of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 The 1973 Point Mugu, California Earthquake · 47 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 34.0785, -119.5470. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Ventura County, CA 49 km (31 mi) NE earthquakes near Ventura County
Santa Barbara County, CA 68 km (42 mi) NW earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
Los Angeles County, CA 119 km (74 mi) E earthquakes near Los Angeles County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 8km SW of Camarillo, CA
  2. 1.7 20km SSE of Port Hueneme, CA
  3. 2.4 19km SSE of Port Hueneme, CA
  4. 1.9 18km SSE of Port Hueneme, CA
  5. 2.4 1km NW of Goleta, CA
  6. 1.6 6km W of Ojai, CA
  7. 1.9 1km WSW of Goleta, CA
  8. 2.3 16km SSE of Port Hueneme, CA
  9. 2.4 19km SSE of Port Hueneme, CA
  10. 2.4 19km SSE of Port Hueneme, CA
  11. 2.5 20km SSE of Port Hueneme, CA
  12. 1.8 18km SSW of Santa Barbara, CA
  13. 1.9 18km SSW of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
  14. 1.9 4km WSW of Ojai, CA
  15. 3.2 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.