Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.0ml
17 km N of Santa Barbara Is., CA
Yes. A magnitude 3.0 earthquake was recorded 17 km N of Santa Barbara Is., CA, 73 km (45 mi) SW of Los Angeles, CA, at 3:10 pm PST on 27 November 2025 (23:10 UTC), 8.8 km deep. 5 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
73 km (45 mi) SW of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- Magnitude
- M 3.0 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.8 km below the surface
- Felt
- 5 reports · strongest reported intensity I
- Nearest
- Ventura County, 83 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- Santa Cruz 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 260 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Malibu, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Malibu, 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 37 km (23 mi) from the epicentre. 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 1,000 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 330,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 15,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 10,000× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.0 about 1,000 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 4.2 on 2023-01-25 — about 57 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.5 11km NNW of Santa Barbara Is., CA · 11 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.3 The 1973 Point Mugu, California Earthquake · 40 km N of this epicentre
- 5.2 13km S of Malibu Beach, CA · 46 km NE 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 33.6193, -119.0333. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ventura County, CA | 83 km (51 mi) | N | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 96 km (60 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Orange County, CA | 116 km (72 mi) | E | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 138 km (86 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
33 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.5 7 km SSW of Santa Barbara Is., CA
- 2.3 5 km W of Malibu, CA
- 2.2 18 km S of Port Hueneme, CA
- 2.6 27 km SSE of Malibu, CA
- 2.7 35 km NNW of Santa Barbara Is., CA
- 2.5 6 km WSW of Malibu, CA
- 1.7 14 km W of Malibu, CA
- 1.8 8 km WNW of Malibu, CA
- 1.9 12 km WNW of Malibu, CA
- 1.6 12 km WNW of Malibu, CA
- 1.9 19 km SSE of Malibu Beach, CA
- 2.2 18 km SSE of Malibu, CA
- 2.2 18 km SSE of Malibu, CA
- 1.6 5 km W of Malibu, CA
- 2.0 18 km SE of Port Hueneme, 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.