QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Santa Ynez, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Ynez in the 24 hours to 9:01 am PST (17:01 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 16 km (10 mi) NNW, at 9:54 am PDT on 23 March 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Santa Ynez

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 23 km (14 mi) northeast of Santa Ynez, CA, at 9:16 pm PDT on 17 July 2022 (04:16 UTC), 1.8 km deep.

USGS: 23km NE of Santa Ynez, CA

40 km (25 mi) NNW of Santa Barbara, CA · 103 km (64 mi) SW of Bakersfield, CA

9:16 pm PDT, Jul 17, 2022 · · 1.8 km deep · released about 13 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Santa Ynez Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Barbara County 26 kmVentura County 80 kmSan Luis Obispo County 90 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
9:16 pm PDT on 17 July 2022 ()
Where
23 km (14 mi) northeast of Santa Ynez, CA · earthquakes near Santa Ynez
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
1.8 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Santa Barbara County, 26 km SW
Nearest mapped fault
Santa Ynez fault, 21 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 1577 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 13 km (8 mi) from the epicentre. In Santa Ynez, 23 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: Los Olivos, Solvang.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 13 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 840,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 75× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 13 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 2,900 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.8 The 1925 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 49 km S of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 Near Los Alamos, California · 48 km W of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 Near Los Alamos, California · 39 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.7 Near Los Alamos, California · 33 km WSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 10 km NE of Toro Canyon, 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 34.7333, -119.8768. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Barbara County, CA 26 km (16 mi) SW earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
Ventura County, CA 80 km (50 mi) ESE earthquakes near Ventura County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 90 km (56 mi) NW earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Kern County, CA 125 km (78 mi) ENE earthquakes near Kern County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 8 km NE of Montecito, CA
  2. 1.6 10 km NW of Los Olivos, CA
  3. 1.8 4 km SW of Solvang, CA
  4. 1.6 10 km NW of Los Olivos, CA
  5. 2.3 5 km WNW of Isla Vista, CA
  6. 2.3 21 km S of Solvang, CA
  7. 2.0 7 km NE of Carpinteria, CA
  8. 2.2 8 km SSW of Santa Barbara, CA
  9. 1.6 27 km WSW of Maricopa, CA
  10. 1.8 4 km SE of Santa Barbara, CA
  11. 3.0 20 km WSW of Taft, CA
  12. 2.0 13 km S of Isla Vista, CA
  13. 1.6 8 km SE of Los Alamos, CA
  14. 1.8 14 km SSW of Santa Barbara, CA
  15. 1.7 10 km ENE of Los Olivos, 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.