QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Santa Barbara, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Barbara in the 24 hours to 6:40 am PST (14:40 UTC). The last one was M 2.1, 15 km (9 mi) S, at 9:33 pm PST on 4 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Santa Barbara

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 15 km (9 mi) south-southeast of Santa Barbara, CA, at 2:50 pm PST on 16 January 2023 (22:50 UTC), 1.9 km deep.

USGS: 15km SSE of Santa Barbara, CA

13 km (8 mi) SSE of Santa Barbara, CA · 119 km (74 mi) WNW of Los Angeles, CA

2:50 pm PST, Jan 16, 2023 · · 1.9 km deep · released about 8.7 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Santa Barbara Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Barbara County 44 kmVentura County 49 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
2:50 pm PST on 16 January 2023 ()
Where
15 km (9 mi) south-southeast of Santa Barbara, CA · earthquakes near Santa Barbara
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
1.9 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Santa Barbara County, 44 km NW
Nearest mapped fault
Pitas Point fault, 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 1395 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Santa Barbara, 15 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: Summerland, Montecito, Toro Canyon, Carpinteria, Mission Canyon, Goleta.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 8.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.7 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 4,300 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.8 The 1925 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 13 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 30 km SW of Channel Islands Beach, California · 36 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 10 km NE of Toro Canyon, California · 27 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 The 1941 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 10 km ENE of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 9 km SW of Channel Islands Beach, California · 39 km ESE 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 34.2922, -119.6582. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Barbara County, CA 44 km (27 mi) NW earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
Ventura County, CA 49 km (30 mi) E earthquakes near Ventura County
Kern County, CA 145 km (90 mi) NE earthquakes near Kern County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.6 6 km SE of Ojai, CA
  2. 1.7 6 km SE of Ojai, CA
  3. 1.6 6 km SE of Ojai, CA
  4. 1.7 6 km SE of Ojai, CA
  5. 2.0 5 km SE of Ojai, CA
  6. 1.5 5 km SE of Ojai, CA
  7. 2.2 6 km SE of Ojai, CA
  8. 1.7 6 km SE of Ojai, CA
  9. 1.6 6 km SE of Ojai, CA
  10. 1.5 5 km SSE of Ojai, CA
  11. 2.3 5 km SE of Ojai, CA
  12. 2.0 6 km SE of Ojai, CA
  13. 2.4 5 km W of Isla Vista, CA
  14. 1.9 12 km W of Isla Vista, CA
  15. 1.7 13 km W 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.