Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.5ml
Earthquake near Los Alamos, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Los Alamos in the 24 hours to 9:04 am PST (17:04 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 7 km (4 mi) ENE, at 8:51 am PDT on 23 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Los Alamos
This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) south-southwest of Los Alamos, CA, at 9:19 am PDT on 24 October 2024 (16:19 UTC), 4.9 km deep. 7 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 5 km SSW of Los Alamos, CA
28 km (18 mi) SSE of Santa Maria, CA
- When
- 9:19 am PDT on 24 October 2024 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) south-southwest of Los Alamos, CA · earthquakes near Los Alamos
- Magnitude
- M 2.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 4.9 km below the surface
- Felt
- 7 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Nearest
- Santa Barbara County, 31 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Los Alamos 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 677 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Los Alamos, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Los Alamos, CA. No account or email needed.
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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 22 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. In Los Alamos, 5 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.
Likely felt in: Los Alamos 5 km, intensity III · Lompoc 16 km, intensity II · Orcutt 21 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 170 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 89,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 63,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.6× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.5 about 170 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 4.3 on 2017-10-26 — about 560 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.9 The 1927 Lompoc, California Earthquake · 37 km W of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Los Alamos, California · 14 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Los Alamos, California · 1 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.7 Near Los Alamos, California · 15 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.0 5 km SSW of Nipomo, California · 37 km NNW 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 34.7057, -120.3063. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 31 km (19 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 77 km (48 mi) | N | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Ventura County, CA | 114 km (71 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Ventura County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
48 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 13 km S of Lompoc, CA
- 2.2 11 km S of Lompoc, CA
- 1.7 12 km S of Lompoc, CA
- 1.7 12 km SSW of Lompoc, CA
- 2.5 12 km SSW of Lompoc, CA
- 2.7 12 km S of Lompoc, CA
- 1.9 12 km S of Lompoc, CA
- 2.5 12 km SSW of Lompoc, CA
- 1.6 12 km SSW of Lompoc, CA
- 2.8 12 km SSW of Lompoc, CA
- 1.9 13 km SSW of Lompoc, CA
- 2.5 13 km SSW of Lompoc, CA
- 2.2 7 km ENE of Los Alamos, CA
- 2.3 7 km ENE of Los Alamos, CA
- 1.5 6 km SSW of Los Alamos, 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.