QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Isla Vista, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Isla Vista in the 24 hours to 6:32 am PST (14:32 UTC). The last one was M 1.7, 9 km (5 mi) ESE, at 8:42 am PDT on 5 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Isla Vista

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) southwest of Isla Vista, CA, at 11:33 pm PDT on 21 July 2024 (06:33 UTC), 21 km deep.

USGS: 5 km SW of Isla Vista, CA

17 km (11 mi) W of Santa Barbara, CA · 143 km (89 mi) WNW of Los Angeles, CA

11:33 pm PDT, Jul 21, 2024 · · 21 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Isla Vista Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Santa Barbara County 21 kmVentura County 70 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
11:33 pm PDT on 21 July 2024 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) southwest of Isla Vista, CA · earthquakes near Isla Vista
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
21 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Santa Barbara County, 21 km NW
Nearest mapped fault
Pitas Point fault, 4 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 843 days ago

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 Isla Vista, 5 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: Goleta, Mission Canyon, Santa Barbara, Montecito, Summerland.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.6 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 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 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 4,900 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.8 The 1925 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 13 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 5.7 Near Los Alamos, California · 37 km NW of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 10 km NE of Toro Canyon, California · 39 km ENE of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 The 1941 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 31 km E of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 The 1978 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 19 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 34.3832, -119.8968. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Santa Barbara County, CA 21 km (13 mi) NW earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
Ventura County, CA 70 km (44 mi) E earthquakes near Ventura County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 123 km (76 mi) NNW earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County
Kern County, CA 151 km (94 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. 1.9 13 km NE of Carpinteria, CA
  2. 1.8 11 km S of Carpinteria, CA
  3. 1.5 13 km SSW of Isla Vista, CA
  4. 2.3 7 km S of Carpinteria, CA
  5. 1.8 11 km S of Carpinteria, CA
  6. 2.9 9 km S of Carpinteria, CA
  7. 1.5 16 km N of Goleta, CA
  8. 1.6 8 km SSW of Los Alamos, CA
  9. 2.2 29 km ENE of Santa Ynez, CA
  10. 2.5 19 km W of Isla Vista, CA
  11. 1.6 6 km S of Carpinteria, CA
  12. 2.2 2 km WNW of Goleta, CA
  13. 1.8 2 km W of Goleta, CA
  14. 1.7 8 km SSE of Los Alamos, CA
  15. 2.7 11 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.