Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.2ml
Earthquake near Goleta, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Goleta in the 24 hours to 1:34 pm PST (21:34 UTC). The last one was M 1.7, 8 km (5 mi) SE, at 8:42 am PDT on 5 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Goleta
This page: a magnitude 2.2 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) west-northwest of Goleta, CA, at 9:11 am PDT on 5 October 2025 (16:11 UTC), 3.8 km deep. 30 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 2 km WNW of Goleta, CA
14 km (8 mi) WNW of Santa Barbara, CA · 141 km (87 mi) WNW of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 9:11 am PDT on 5 October 2025 ()
- Where
- 3 km (2 mi) west-northwest of Goleta, CA · earthquakes near Goleta
- Magnitude
- M 2.2 (ml)
- Depth
- 3.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- 30 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Nearest
- Santa Barbara County, 20 km WNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Mission Ridge fault system, 3 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 402 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Goleta, 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 18 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Goleta, 3 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: Goleta 3 km, intensity III · Isla Vista 3 km, intensity III · Santa Barbara 14 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 60 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.2 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 250,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 180,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 16× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.2 about 60 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 620 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.8 The 1925 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 17 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Los Alamos, California · 50 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.7 Near Los Alamos, California · 36 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 10 km NE of Toro Canyon, California · 33 km E of this epicentre
- 5.5 The 1941 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 29 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 34.4437, -119.8537. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 20 km (12 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Ventura County, CA | 67 km (41 mi) | E | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 118 km (73 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Kern County, CA | 143 km (89 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Kern County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
52 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.0 26 km NNE of Montecito, CA
- 1.3 11 km E of Carpinteria, CA
- 1.9 11 km E of Carpinteria, CA
- 1.2 11 km E of Carpinteria, CA
- 1.2 11 km ENE of Carpinteria, CA
- 1.7 8 km SE of Goleta, CA
- 2.7 7 km SE of Goleta, CA
- 1.7 11 km N of Goleta, CA
- 1.2 27 km NNE of Montecito, CA
- 1.4 13 km SSE of Santa Barbara, CA
- 1.0 12 km SE of Santa Ynez, CA
- 2.0 20 km NW of Ojai, CA
- 1.5 7 km SSE of Santa Ynez, CA
- 1.9 25 km SSW of Solvang, CA
- 2.0 22 km NNW of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), 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.