Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.5ml
Earthquake near Maricopa, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Maricopa in the 24 hours to 9:17 am PST (17:17 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 51 km (32 mi) ESE, at 3:38 am PDT on 12 July 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 798 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Maricopa
This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 24 km (15 mi) southwest of Maricopa, CA, at 4:01 am PDT on 16 March 2026 (11:01 UTC), 8.4 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 24 km SW of Maricopa, CA
58 km (36 mi) N of Santa Barbara, CA · 148 km (92 mi) NW of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 4:01 am PDT on 16 March 2026 ()
- Where
- 24 km (15 mi) southwest of Maricopa, CA · earthquakes near Maricopa
- Magnitude
- M 2.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- 2 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Santa Barbara County, 58 km SW
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, 12 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 170 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Maricopa, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Maricopa, 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 21 km (13 mi) from the epicentre. In Maricopa, 24 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: Taft Heights, South Taft, Taft, Ford City.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 180 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 86,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 61,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.4× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.5 about 180 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 4.6 on 2024-08-07 — about 1,400 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.8 13km WNW of Grapevine, CA · 49 km E of this epicentre
- 5.5 10 km NE of Toro Canyon, California · 47 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.4 13km WNW of Grapevine, CA · 50 km E of this epicentre
- 5.0 10 km NE of Toro Canyon, California · 47 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.0 19km NW of Grapevine, CA · 48 km ENE 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 34.9152, -119.6022. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 58 km (36 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Ventura County, CA | 75 km (47 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Kern County, CA | 93 km (58 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Kern County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 93 km (58 mi) | NW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo 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.
- 1.4 25 km SW of Maricopa, CA
- 1.8 25 km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.8 22 km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.5 21 km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.1 21 km NW of Grapevine, CA
- 1.7 11 km N of Goleta, CA
- 1.2 27 km NNE of Montecito, CA
- 1.1 24 km SW of Pine Mountain Club, CA
- 1.0 24 km SW of Pine Mountain Club, CA
- 1.1 24 km SW of Pine Mountain Club, CA
- 1.5 25 km SW of Maricopa, CA
- 1.0 14 km S of Maricopa, CA
- 1.2 19 km N of Pine Mountain Club, CA
- 1.1 26 km SW of Maricopa, CA
- 1.3 16 km W of Taft, 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.