quarry blast · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.0ml
Earthquake near Santa Ynez, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Ynez in the 24 hours to 4:34 am PST (12:34 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 16 km (10 mi) NNW, at 9:54 am PDT on 23 March 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Santa Ynez
No: USGS classifies this as a quarry blast, not an earthquake. A magnitude 1.0 quarry blast was recorded 12 km (8 mi) southeast of Santa Ynez, CA, at 8:33 am PDT on 24 September 2026 (15:33 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 12 km SE of Santa Ynez, CA
29 km (18 mi) WNW of Santa Barbara, CA · 125 km (78 mi) SW of Bakersfield, CA
- When
- 8:33 am PDT on 24 September 2026 ()
- Where
- 12 km (8 mi) southeast of Santa Ynez, CA · earthquakes near Santa Ynez
- Magnitude
- M 1.0 (ml)
- Depth
- -0.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Santa Barbara County, 5 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- Santa Ynez fault, 2 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 46 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Santa Ynez, 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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: Solvang, Isla Vista, Goleta, Los Olivos, Buellton, Mission Canyon.
USGS catalogues this as quarry blast, not an earthquake.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 0.99 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 15,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 11,000,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 970× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.0 about 0.99 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 38,000 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 · 31 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Los Alamos, California · 48 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Los Alamos, California · 34 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.7 Near Los Alamos, California · 21 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 10 km NE of Toro Canyon, California · 44 km E 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 34.5353, -119.9832. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 5 km (3 mi) | W | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Ventura County, CA | 80 km (50 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 104 km (65 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Kern County, CA | 146 km (90 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Kern County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
15 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 15 km S of Santa Barbara, CA
- 1.8 16 km S of Santa Barbara, CA
- 2.1 15 km S of Santa Barbara, CA
- 1.4 8 km NW of Los Alamos, CA
- 1.3 25 km NNE of Montecito, CA
- 1.8 25 km NNE of Montecito, CA
- 1.9 25 km NNE of Montecito, CA
- 2.2 25 km NNE of Montecito, CA
- 1.0 26 km NNE of Montecito, CA
- 1.2 6 km SSW of Los Alamos, 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
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.