Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.6md
Earthquake near Guadalupe, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Guadalupe in the 24 hours to 11:19 am PST (19:19 UTC). The last one was M 4.1, 68 km (42 mi) NNW, at 9:54 am PST on 18 November 2025, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,099 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Guadalupe
This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 12 km (7 mi) west of Guadalupe, CA, at 6:50 am PDT on 27 September 2018 (13:50 UTC), 1.4 km deep.
USGS: 12km W of Guadalupe, CA
24 km (15 mi) W of Santa Maria, CA
- When
- 6:50 am PDT on 27 September 2018 ()
- Where
- 12 km (7 mi) west of Guadalupe, CA · earthquakes near Guadalupe
- Magnitude
- M 2.6 (md)
- Depth
- 1.4 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- San Luis Obispo County, 51 km NNE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Hosgri fault, 4 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 2942 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Guadalupe, 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 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 23 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. In Guadalupe, 12 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Callender, Oceano, Grover Beach, Arroyo Grande, Pismo Beach, Nipomo.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 240 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 63,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 45,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.6 about 240 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.9 The 1927 Lompoc, California Earthquake · 33 km S of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Los Alamos, California · 33 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.8 Near Los Alamos, California · 47 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.0 5 km SSW of Nipomo, California · 18 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 34.9732, -120.6993. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Luis Obispo County, CA | 51 km (32 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near San Luis Obispo County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 77 km (48 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
54 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.3 6km E of Vandenberg Village, CA
- 1.9 3km NW of Vandenberg Village, CA
- 1.8 11km ENE of Santa Maria, CA
- 1.9 6km SW of San Luis Obispo, CA
- 1.9 35km SW of Avila Beach, CA
- 2.4 24km SE of Santa Margarita, CA
- 1.9 27km W of Guadalupe, CA
- 2.2 36km WSW of Guadalupe, CA
- 2.1 32km WSW of Guadalupe, CA
- 1.9 6km NE of San Luis Obispo, CA
- 2.5 22km SW of Lompoc, CA
- 1.6 10km NNE of Los Alamos, CA
- 1.8 6km W of Santa Margarita, CA
- 2.0 23km NNE of Nipomo, CA
- 1.5 4km E of Avila Beach, 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.