Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Montecito, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Montecito in the 24 hours to 4:55 am PST (12:55 UTC). The last one was M 2.7, 14 km (9 mi) WSW, at 8:40 am PDT on 5 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 59 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Montecito
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 25 km (16 mi) north-northeast of Montecito, CA, at 7:22 pm PDT on 26 October 2026 (02:22 UTC), 8.6 km deep.
USGS: 25 km NNE of Montecito, CA
32 km (20 mi) NNE of Santa Barbara, CA · 123 km (77 mi) NW of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 7:22 pm PDT on 26 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 25 km (16 mi) north-northeast of Montecito, CA · earthquakes near Montecito
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Ventura County, 48 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Santa Ynez fault, 18 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 16 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Montecito, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Montecito, 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 minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Montecito, 25 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: Toro Canyon, Summerland, Carpinteria, Mission Canyon, Santa Barbara.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 13 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 840,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 75× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 13 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 99,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.8 The 1925 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 46 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.5 Southwest of Tejon Pass, California · 48 km E of this epicentre
- 5.5 10 km NE of Toro Canyon, California · 16 km S of this epicentre
- 5.5 The 1941 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 35 km S of this epicentre
- 5.1 The 1978 Santa Barbara, California Earthquake · 41 km SSW 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 34.6458, -119.5185. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ventura County, CA | 48 km (30 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 49 km (31 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Kern County, CA | 106 km (66 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Kern County |
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 118 km (74 mi) | NW | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 126 km (78 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
7 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 7 km S of Ojai, CA
- 1.5 20 km NW of Ojai, CA
- 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
- 1.1 18 km N of Santa Paula, CA
- 1.3 25 km NNE of Montecito, 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 changed | From | To | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| review status | automatic | reviewed | |
| longitude | -119.52 | -119.52 | |
| latitude | 34.64 | 34.65 | |
| depth | 3.92 | 8.59 | |
| magnitude | 1.76 | 1.75 | |
| longitude | -119.51 | -119.52 | |
| latitude | 34.64 | 34.64 | |
| depth | 7.33 | 3.92 | |
| magnitude | 1.94 | 1.76 |
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.