Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Nipomo, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Nipomo in the 24 hours to 1:19 pm PST (21:19 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 63 km (39 mi) NNW, at 9:54 am PST on 18 November 2025, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,099 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Nipomo
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 26 km (16 mi) east-northeast of Nipomo, CA, at 5:26 am PST on 16 January 2025 (13:26 UTC), 2.7 km deep.
USGS: 26 km ENE of Nipomo, CA
30 km (19 mi) NE of Santa Maria, CA · 109 km (68 mi) WSW of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 5:26 am PST on 16 January 2025 ()
- Where
- 26 km (16 mi) east-northeast of Nipomo, CA · earthquakes near Nipomo
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 2.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Luis Obispo County, 37 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Juan 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 644 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Nipomo, CA
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Alerts are on for .
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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 13 km (8 mi) from the epicentre. In Nipomo, 26 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: Santa Maria.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.8 Near Los Alamos, California · 40 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Los Alamos, California · 48 km S of this epicentre
- 5.0 5 km SSW of Nipomo, California · 30 km WSW 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 35.1257, -120.2058. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 37 km (23 mi) | NW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 67 km (42 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Kings County, CA | 111 km (69 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Kings County |
| Ventura County, CA | 130 km (81 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Ventura County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
26 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.4 8 km NW of Los Alamos, CA
- 1.2 6 km SSW of Los Alamos, CA
- 2.4 13 km E of Santa Margarita, CA
- 2.0 5 km NE of Santa Margarita, CA
- 0.9 10 km E of Orcutt, CA
- 2.3 25 km WNW of Simmler, CA
- 2.2 7 km ENE of Los Alamos, CA
- 2.3 7 km ENE of Los Alamos, CA
- 2.0 10 km NNW of Simmler, CA
- 1.5 6 km SSW of Los Alamos, CA
- 1.6 4 km NNE of Avila Beach, CA
- 1.9 3 km WNW of San Luis Obispo, CA
- 1.8 8 km WSW of Orcutt, CA
- 2.2 9 km NNW of Los Olivos, CA
- 2.1 6 km E of San Luis Obispo, 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.