Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Santa Paula, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Paula in the 24 hours to 4:32 am PST (12:32 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) north-northeast of Santa Paula, CA, at 6:37 pm PST on 14 December 2023 (02:37 UTC), 21 km deep.
USGS: 6 km NNE of Santa Paula, CA
71 km (44 mi) NW of Los Angeles, CA · 20 km (13 mi) N of Camarillo, CA
- When
- 6:37 pm PST on 14 December 2023 ()
- Where
- 6 km (4 mi) north-northeast of Santa Paula, CA · earthquakes near Santa Paula
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 21 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Ventura County, 11 km WSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Cayetano fault, 2 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 1063 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Santa Paula, CA
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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 minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Santa Paula, 6 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: Fillmore, Saticoy, Moorpark, Ojai, Camarillo, Piru.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.8 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,200,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.8 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 5.1 on 2023-08-20 — about 180,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 50 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.6 7km NNE of Simi Valley, California · 32 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.5 Southwest of Tejon Pass, California · 33 km N of this epicentre
- 5.5 10 km NE of Toro Canyon, California · 44 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 The 1941 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 50 km W 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 34.4055, -119.0285. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ventura County, CA | 11 km (7 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 74 km (46 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 94 km (58 mi) | W | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Kern County, CA | 108 km (67 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Orange County, CA | 141 km (88 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Orange County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
56 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.4 12 km WNW of Malibu, CA
- 1.7 11 km WNW of Malibu, CA
- 1.6 11 km WNW of Malibu, CA
- 1.5 11 km W of Malibu, CA
- 1.6 10 km NW of Malibu, CA
- 1.6 11 km NW of Malibu, CA
- 1.9 11 km WNW of Malibu, CA
- 1.7 12 km NW of Malibu, CA
- 1.5 10 km WNW of Malibu, CA
- 1.9 9 km NW of Malibu, CA
- 2.1 11 km WNW of Malibu, CA
- 1.6 11 km WNW of Malibu, CA
- 3.1 11 km WNW of Malibu, CA
- 1.5 11 km WNW of Malibu, CA
- 1.5 10 km WNW of Malibu, 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.