Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 4.0mw
Earthquake near Santa Paula, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Paula in the 24 hours to 8:58 am PST (16:58 UTC). The last one was M 1.9, 9 km (6 mi) NW, at 2:39 am PDT on 23 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Santa Paula
This page: a magnitude 4.0 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) northwest of Santa Paula, CA, at 5:44 pm PST on 26 February 2022 (01:44 UTC), 20 km deep. 2,099 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 10km NW of Santa Paula, CA
80 km (50 mi) NW of Los Angeles, CA · 20 km (13 mi) NNE of San Buenaventura (Ventura), CA
- When
- 5:44 pm PST on 26 February 2022 ()
- Where
- 10 km (6 mi) northwest of Santa Paula, CA · earthquakes near Santa Paula
- Magnitude
- M 4.0 (mw)
- Depth
- 20 km below the surface
- Felt
- 2,099 reports · strongest reported intensity V
- Measured shaking
- intensity IV (ShakeMap)
- USGS impact alert
- green
- Tsunami
- USGS flagged this event for tsunami evaluation. Follow tsunami.gov for official messages.
- Nearest
- Ventura County, 7 km S
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Cayetano fault, 5 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 336 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Santa Paula, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Santa Paula, 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 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 93 km (58 mi) from the epicentre. In Santa Paula, 10 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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 Paula 10 km, intensity III · Ojai 11 km, intensity III · Ventura 22 km, intensity III · Camarillo 24 km, intensity III · Oxnard 25 km, intensity III · Moorpark 27 km, intensity III · Piru 31 km, intensity III · Carpinteria 36 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 14 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 12,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 540× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 380× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 4.0 about 14 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 30× more
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 2016-03-12 — about 1.7 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 14 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.6 7km NNE of Simi Valley, California · 41 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.5 Southwest of Tejon Pass, California · 33 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.5 10 km NE of Toro Canyon, California · 35 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 The 1941 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 41 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.3 The 1973 Point Mugu, California Earthquake · 50 km S 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 34.4212, -119.1320. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ventura County, CA | 7 km (4 mi) | S | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 84 km (52 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 84 km (52 mi) | W | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Kern County, CA | 109 km (68 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Kern County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
53 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 11km NNW of Fillmore, CA
- 1.5 10km ESE of Ojai, CA
- 2.8 10km ESE of Ojai, CA
- 1.9 17km W of Malibu, CA
- 1.8 6km WSW of Valencia, CA
- 1.9 6km WSW of Valencia, CA
- 1.7 7km NW of Fillmore, CA
- 2.0 2km NNE of Castaic, CA
- 2.6 8km SE of Piru, CA
- 2.1 4km S of Frazier Park, CA
- 2.7 10km E of Carpinteria, CA
- 1.6 13km NNW of Fillmore, CA
- 1.6 15km NNW of Fillmore, CA
- 1.5 9km ESE of Ojai, CA
- 2.3 10km SSW of Valencia, 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.