QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 2.0ml

Earthquake near Lompoc, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Lompoc in the 24 hours to 6:27 am PST (14:27 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 11 km (7 mi) SSW, at 6:34 am PDT on 26 August 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Lompoc

This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 7 km (4 mi) east-southeast of Lompoc, CA, at 6:23 am PDT on 15 March 2022 (13:23 UTC), less than 1 km deep. 5 people have reported feeling it to USGS. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.

USGS: 7km ESE of Lompoc, CA

36 km (22 mi) S of Santa Maria, CA

6:23 am PDT, Mar 15, 2022 · · 1.0 km deep · released about 36 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Barbara County 33 kmSan Luis Obispo County 86 kmVentura County 118 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
6:23 am PDT on 15 March 2022 ()
Where
7 km (4 mi) east-southeast of Lompoc, CA · earthquakes near Lompoc
Magnitude
M 2.0 (ml)
Depth
1.0 km below the surface
Felt
5 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Santa Barbara County, 33 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Santa Ynez fault, 12 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1703 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 17 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Lompoc, 7 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: Lompoc 7 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 36 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 420,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 300,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 27× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 36 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 2,600 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.9 The 1927 Lompoc, California Earthquake · 30 km WNW of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 Near Los Alamos, California · 20 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 Near Los Alamos, California · 12 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 5.7 Near Los Alamos, California · 17 km E of this epicentre
  5. 5.0 5 km SSW of Nipomo, California · 44 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 34.6168, -120.3868. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Barbara County, CA 33 km (21 mi) ESE earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 86 km (53 mi) N earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Ventura County, CA 118 km (74 mi) ESE earthquakes near Ventura 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. 2.1 9 km NW of Los Alamos, CA
  2. 2.4 33 km WSW of Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA
  3. 2.3 7 km SSW of Lompoc, CA
  4. 2.3 10 km SW of Lompoc, CA
  5. 1.6 11 km SW of Lompoc, CA
  6. 2.0 9 km SSW of Lompoc, CA
  7. 2.0 12 km SW of Lompoc, CA
  8. 3.6 8 km SW of Lompoc, CA
  9. 2.4 10 km SW of Lompoc, CA
  10. 3.2 10 km SW of Lompoc, CA
  11. 2.5 5 km SSW of Los Alamos, CA
  12. 2.2 5 km SSW of Los Alamos, CA
  13. 1.6 15 km WSW of Isla Vista, CA
  14. 2.2 19 km SSW of Lompoc, CA
  15. 1.5 8 km ESE of Lompoc, 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.