QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.2ml

Earthquake near Carpinteria, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Carpinteria in the 24 hours to 3:26 am PST (11:26 UTC). The last one was M 1.9, 11 km (7 mi) E, at 1:23 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1 felt report to USGS. Every earthquake near Carpinteria

This page: a magnitude 1.2 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) east-northeast of Carpinteria, CA, at 1:25 am PDT on 8 October 2026 (08:25 UTC), 1.6 km deep.

USGS: 11 km ENE of Carpinteria, CA

22 km (14 mi) NW of San Buenaventura (Ventura), CA · 102 km (63 mi) WNW of Los Angeles, CA

1:25 am PDT, Oct 8, 2026 · · 1.6 km deep · released about 1.9 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Ventura County 26 kmSanta Barbara County 59 kmLos Angeles County 108 kmKern County 120 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
1:25 am PDT on 8 October 2026 ()
Where
11 km (7 mi) east-northeast of Carpinteria, CA · earthquakes near Carpinteria
Magnitude
M 1.2 (ml)
Depth
1.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Ventura County, 26 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Mission Ridge fault system, under 1 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 35 days ago

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: Oak View, Mira Monte, Meiners Oaks, Toro Canyon, Ojai, Summerland.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1.9 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 7,900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 5,600,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 500× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.2 about 1.9 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 5.1 on 2023-08-20 — about 660,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.8 The 1925 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 39 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 Southwest of Tejon Pass, California · 48 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 30 km SW of Channel Islands Beach, California · 48 km S of this epicentre
  4. 5.5 10 km NE of Toro Canyon, California · 12 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 The 1941 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 18 km SW 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 34.4223, -119.4047. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Ventura County, CA 26 km (16 mi) ESE earthquakes near Ventura County
Santa Barbara County, CA 59 km (37 mi) WNW earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
Los Angeles County, CA 108 km (67 mi) ESE earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Kern County, CA 120 km (74 mi) NNE earthquakes near Kern County
San Luis Obispo County, CA 144 km (89 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

16 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.5 7 km S of Ojai, CA
  2. 1.5 20 km NW of Ojai, CA
  3. 1.6 15 km S of Santa Barbara, CA
  4. 1.8 16 km S of Santa Barbara, CA
  5. 2.1 15 km S of Santa Barbara, CA
  6. 1.1 18 km N of Santa Paula, CA
  7. 1.3 25 km NNE of Montecito, CA
  8. 1.8 25 km NNE of Montecito, CA
  9. 1.9 25 km NNE of Montecito, CA
  10. 2.2 25 km NNE of Montecito, CA
  11. 1.0 26 km NNE of Montecito, CA
  12. 0.8 5 km SW of Ojai, CA
  13. 1.9 9 km NW of Santa Paula, CA
  14. 1.3 11 km E of Carpinteria, CA
  15. 1.9 11 km E of Carpinteria, 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.

Revisions

USGS refines a solution as more stations report. Every change we have seen is listed here.

What changedFromToWhen
review statusautomaticreviewed
location11 km E of Carpinteria, CA11 km ENE of Carpinteria, CA
longitude-119.41-119.4
latitude34.4234.42
depth2.281.64

On USGS

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.