QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0ml

17km ESE of Santa Barbara Is., CA

Yes. A magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 17km ESE of Santa Barbara Is., CA, 80 km (50 mi) SSW of Los Angeles, CA, at 9:21 am PDT on 8 May 2023 (16:21 UTC), 13 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

80 km (50 mi) SSW of Los Angeles, CA

· 13 km deep · released about 30 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Los Angeles County 104 kmOrange County 107 kmVentura County 107 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
Magnitude
M 2.0 (ml)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Los Angeles County, 104 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault
San Clemente fault, under 1 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 1281 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. 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 30 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 5.8 500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 350,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 32× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 30 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

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.5 11km NNW of Santa Barbara Is., CA · 27 km NW 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 33.4195, -118.8860. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Los Angeles County, CA 104 km (65 mi) NNE earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Orange County, CA 107 km (66 mi) ENE earthquakes near Orange County
Ventura County, CA 107 km (66 mi) NNW earthquakes near Ventura County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 25 km SW of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  2. 2.0 25 km S of Malibu, CA
  3. 1.9 26 km SSE of Malibu, CA
  4. 2.0 27 km S of Malibu, CA
  5. 2.0 27 km SSE of Malibu, CA
  6. 3.4 28 km SSE of Malibu, CA
  7. 3.1 27 km SSE of Malibu, CA
  8. 1.7 21 km SSE of Malibu, CA
  9. 2.2 22 km WSW of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  10. 2.2 22 km W of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  11. 3.2 22 km W of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  12. 2.8 22 km W of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  13. 1.9 25 km W of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  14. 3.1 22 km W of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  15. 2.3 22 km W of Rancho Palos Verdes, 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.