Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near Goleta, CA
USGS: 11 km N of Goleta, CA
18 km (11 mi) NW of Santa Barbara, CA · 142 km (88 mi) WNW of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 8:40 am PDT on 5 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 11 km (7 mi) N of Goleta, CA · earthquakes near Goleta
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Santa Barbara County, 20 km W
- Nearest mapped fault
- Santa Ynez fault, 1 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
- Status
- Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change
USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3 hours ago
A magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) N of Goleta, CA, at 8:40 am PDT on 5 October 2026 (15:40 UTC). This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Mission Canyon, Isla Vista, Santa Barbara, Montecito, Summerland, Santa Ynez.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 9.8 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 97× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 9.8 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 3,800 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 · 26 km S of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Los Alamos, California · 47 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.7 Near Los Alamos, California · 35 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 10 km NE of Toro Canyon, California · 30 km E of this epicentre
- 5.5 The 1941 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 33 km SE 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 34.5357, -119.8250. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 20 km (12 mi) | W | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Ventura County, CA | 66 km (41 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 111 km (69 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Kern County, CA | 135 km (84 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Kern County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
2 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
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.