M1.5 earthquake 19km SW of Carpinteria, CA

Magnitude

1.5 (mh), micro

Local time

Thu, Dec 20, 1979, 6:03 AM PST

UTC

1979-12-20 14:03:02 UTC

Depth

6.0 km (3.7 mi), shallow

Epicenter

34.257° N, 119.637° W

Region

California

Tsunami flag

No

Status

Reviewed by a seismologist

Location uncertainty

About 2.0 km horizontally, 31.6 km in depth

Magnitude uncertainty

±0.23

Depth from

Operator assigned

Station coverage gap

333°, poorly surrounded by stations

Stations used

2

• Summerland, CaliforniaPopulation 1,448. Forecast19 kmSSW
• Santa Barbara, CaliforniaPopulation 91,842. Forecast19 kmSSE
• Oxnard, CaliforniaPopulation 207,254. Forecast43 kmW
• Los Angeles, CaliforniaPopulation 3,820,914. Forecast130 kmW

After

1. 1.923km S of Frazier Park, CAThu, Dec 20, 8:33 AM PST · 17078 days ago · 3 km deep · 72 km away
2. 1.716km SSW of Santa Barbara, CASun, Dec 23, 8:53 AM PST · 17075 days ago · 16 km deep · 10 km away
3. 1.616km N of Piru, CATue, Dec 25, 1:07 AM PST · 17074 days ago · 6 km deep · 82 km away
4. 2.516km SSE of Isla Vista, CAWed, Dec 26, 11:55 AM PST · 17072 days ago · 6 km deep · 13 km away
5. 2.17km ENE of Oxnard, CAThu, Dec 27, 11:56 AM PST · 17071 days ago · 6 km deep · 48 km away
6. 2.314km N of Pine Mountain Club, CASat, Dec 29, 9:16 AM PST · 17069 days ago · 5 km deep · 92 km away
7. 1.832km S of Malibu, CAMon, Dec 31, 4:05 PM PST · 17067 days ago · 6 km deep · 93 km away
8. 2.431km S of Malibu, CAMon, Dec 31, 4:05 PM PST · 17067 days ago · 0 km deep · 96 km away
9. 2.011km NE of Pine Mountain Club, CATue, Jan 1, 6:47 AM PST · 17066 days ago · 12 km deep · 90 km away
10. 3.14km NNE of Santa Barbara, CAWed, Jan 2, 9:40 AM PST · 17065 days ago · 16 km deep · 22 km away
11. 1.713km SSW of Santa Barbara, CASun, Jan 6, 12:17 PM PST · 17061 days ago · 0 km deep · 11 km away
12. 2.324km S of Santa Rosa Is., CAThu, Jan 10, 4:40 PM PST · 17057 days ago · 6 km deep · 72 km away
13. 1.66km NNW of Frazier Park, CAFri, Jan 11, 7:09 AM PST · 17056 days ago · 14 km deep · 91 km away
14. 1.612km NE of Pine Mountain Club, CAFri, Jan 11, 9:50 AM PST · 17056 days ago · 12 km deep · 91 km away
15. 1.618km S of Malibu Beach, CAFri, Jan 11, 3:24 PM PST · 17056 days ago · 6 km deep · 97 km away
16. 1.627km SSE of Port Hueneme, CASun, Jan 13, 1:20 PM PST · 17054 days ago · 6 km deep · 61 km away
17. 1.94km SSE of Malibu, CAWed, Jan 16, 2:28 AM PST · 17051 days ago · 14 km deep · 84 km away
18. 1.511km S of Malibu Beach, CAFri, Jan 18, 3:27 PM PST · 17049 days ago · 10 km deep · 95 km away
19. 1.97km SE of Isla Vista, CASun, Jan 20, 7:44 PM PST · 17047 days ago · 1 km deep · 20 km away
20. 2.09km SW of Santa Barbara, CASun, Jan 20, 9:08 PM PST · 17047 days ago · 4 km deep · 18 km away
21. 2.915km N of Pine Mountain Club, CAWed, Jan 23, 2:21 AM PST · 17044 days ago · 14 km deep · 93 km away
22. 1.923km SSE of Santa Barbara, CAFri, Jan 25, 11:40 AM PST · 17042 days ago · 15 km deep · 5 km away
23. 2.16km S of Malibu Beach, CAWed, Jan 30, 6:47 AM PST · 17037 days ago · 2 km deep · 93 km away
24. 1.918km S of Santa Barbara, CAFri, Feb 1, 10:35 AM PST · 17035 days ago · 0 km deep · 9 km away
25. 1.62km NNE of Las Flores, CAWed, Feb 6, 10:17 AM PST · 17030 days ago · 14 km deep · 95 km away
26. 2.323km WSW of Lompoc, CAThu, Feb 7, 1:06 AM PST · 17030 days ago · 9 km deep · 100 km away
27. 1.57km NNE of Ventura, CAThu, Feb 7, 3:24 PM PST · 17029 days ago · 17 km deep · 40 km away
28. 2.26km E of Orcutt, CAThu, Feb 7, 9:33 PM PST · 17029 days ago · 0 km deep · 96 km away
29. 1.616km NW of Pine Mountain Club, CAFri, Feb 8, 12:38 AM PST · 17029 days ago · 5 km deep · 84 km away
30. 1.617km S of Santa Barbara, CAFri, Feb 8, 5:56 PM PST · 17028 days ago · 3 km deep · 7 km away
31. 2.46km S of Montecito, CAMon, Feb 11, 6:19 AM PST · 17025 days ago · 14 km deep · 14 km away
32. 2.39km SSW of Malibu Beach, CATue, Feb 12, 10:09 PM PST · 17024 days ago · 10 km deep · 90 km away
33. 1.63km SE of Ojai, CAFri, Feb 15, 2:37 AM PST · 17021 days ago · 0 km deep · 43 km away
34. 3.116km SW of Carpinteria, CAFri, Feb 15, 5:45 PM PST · 17021 days ago · 1 km deep · 3 km away
35. 2.518km SSE of Santa Barbara, CAFri, Feb 15, 9:15 PM PST · 17021 days ago · 3 km deep · 1 km away
36. 1.51km NE of Santa Barbara, CAMon, Feb 18, 1:11 AM PST · 17019 days ago · 2 km deep · 19 km away

Before

1. 2.15km NNE of Los Alamos, CAThu, Dec 20, 5:03 AM PST · 17078 days ago · 6 km deep · 82 km away
2. 2.016km S of Santa Barbara, CAWed, Dec 19, 4:23 PM PST · 17079 days ago · 2 km deep · 7 km away
3. 2.512km S of Malibu Beach, CAMon, Dec 17, 7:18 PM PST · 17081 days ago · 10 km deep · 97 km away
4. 1.55km NNW of Frazier Park, CAMon, Dec 17, 3:28 PM PST · 17081 days ago · 14 km deep · 91 km away
5. 2.317km S of Santa Barbara, CAMon, Dec 17, 11:24 AM PST · 17081 days ago · 9 km deep · 9 km away
6. 2.38km S of Malibu Beach, CAMon, Dec 17, 10:31 AM PST · 17081 days ago · 10 km deep · 94 km away
7. 2.28km WSW of Grapevine, CASun, Dec 16, 12:45 AM PST · 17083 days ago · 13 km deep · 93 km away
8. 3.19km SSE of Malibu Beach, CASat, Dec 15, 10:00 PM PST · 17083 days ago · 9 km deep · 96 km away
9. 2.116km W of Malibu, CASat, Dec 15, 6:44 PM PST · 17083 days ago · 11 km deep · 66 km away
10. 2.28km S of Malibu Beach, CAThu, Dec 13, 12:20 AM PST · 17086 days ago · 5 km deep · 93 km away
11. 1.620km SSE of Isla Vista, CATue, Dec 11, 3:09 AM PST · 17087 days ago · 0 km deep · 16 km away
12. 2.22km SSE of Grapevine, CATue, Dec 11, 12:27 AM PST · 17088 days ago · 13 km deep · 99 km away
13. 2.214km SE of Malibu, CAMon, Dec 10, 10:53 PM PST · 17088 days ago · 11 km deep · 94 km away
14. 2.215km WSW of Malibu, CAMon, Dec 10, 2:09 AM PST · 17088 days ago · 13 km deep · 69 km away
15. 2.110km SW of Valencia, CAMon, Dec 10, 1:58 AM PST · 17088 days ago · 2 km deep · 92 km away
16. 2.526km SSE of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CAFri, Dec 7, 10:29 AM PST · 17091 days ago · 8 km deep · 53 km away
17. 1.516km S of Camarillo, CAFri, Dec 7, 8:35 AM PST · 17091 days ago · 10 km deep · 58 km away
18. 2.36km S of Malibu Beach, CAThu, Dec 6, 8:55 AM PST · 17092 days ago · 11 km deep · 92 km away
19. 1.912km ENE of Los Olivos, CAWed, Dec 5, 1:56 AM PST · 17093 days ago · 2 km deep · 62 km away
20. 2.711km SSE of Malibu Beach, CASun, Dec 2, 10:09 AM PST · 17096 days ago · 5 km deep · 96 km away

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event ci12336087. Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 9:21 PM UTC.