QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.4ml

16km ESE of Santa Rosa Is., CA

Yes. A magnitude 2.4 earthquake was recorded 16km ESE of Santa Rosa Is., CA, at 3:32 am PST on 17 December 2022 (11:32 UTC), 17 km deep. 5 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

· 17 km deep · released about 120 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Barbara County 75 kmVentura County 93 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 2.4 (ml)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
5 reports
Nearest
Santa Barbara County, 75 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Santa Cruz Island fault, 19 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 1425 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 12 km (7 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 120 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 130,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 92,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 8.2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.4 about 120 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 22,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.8 The 1925 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 50 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 30 km SW of Channel Islands Beach, California · 44 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 9km SSE of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA · 45 km ENE of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 20km ENE of Santa Cruz Is. (NW end), CA · 37 km NE 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 33.8693, -119.9533. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Barbara County, CA 75 km (46 mi) N earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
Ventura County, CA 93 km (58 mi) NE earthquakes near Ventura County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 22 km NNW of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
  2. 2.6 13 km SSE of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
  3. 1.6 24 km SSW of Santa Rosa Is., CA
  4. 1.8 15 km N of Santa Cruz Is. (NW end), CA
  5. 1.5 13 km SSW of Isla Vista, CA
  6. 2.6 15 km S of Santa Rosa Is., CA
  7. 1.5 7 km SW of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
  8. 2.5 16 km S of Santa Rosa Is., CA
  9. 2.3 20 km SSE of Santa Barbara, CA
  10. 2.0 20 km S of Santa Barbara, CA
  11. 1.8 21 km S of Santa Barbara, CA
  12. 2.0 17 km SSE of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
  13. 2.3 14 km SSE of Isla Vista, CA
  14. 2.3 14 km SSE of Isla Vista, CA
  15. 2.9 16 km SSE of Isla Vista, 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.