M1.7 earthquake 8km W of Los Alamos, CA

Magnitude

1.7 (mh), micro

Local time

Wed, Oct 21, 1981, 6:43 AM PDT

UTC

1981-10-21 13:43:46 UTC

Depth

5.0 km (3.1 mi), shallow

Epicenter

34.747° N, 120.368° W

Region

California

Tsunami flag

No

Status

Reviewed by a seismologist

Location uncertainty

About 4.2 km horizontally, 31.6 km in depth

Depth from

Operator assigned

Station coverage gap

100°

Stations used

3

• Los Alamos, CaliforniaPopulation 1,890. Forecast8 kmW
• Orcutt, CaliforniaPopulation 28,905. Forecast14 kmSSE
• Santa Maria, CaliforniaPopulation 105,093. Forecast24 kmSSE
• Los Angeles, CaliforniaPopulation 3,820,914. Forecast210 kmWNW

After

1. 3.032km SW of Lompoc, CAFri, Oct 30, 12:24 AM PST · 16399 days ago · 5 km deep · 47 km away
2. 1.87 km SW of Templeton, CaliforniaWed, Nov 4, 5:47 PM PST · 16393 days ago · 5 km deep · 91 km away
3. 3.04km SSW of Montecito, CAMon, Nov 9, 5:43 AM PST · 16388 days ago · 13 km deep · 76 km away
4. 2.03km SSW of Montecito, CAMon, Nov 9, 10:43 AM PST · 16388 days ago · 14 km deep · 77 km away
5. 1.74km S of Montecito, CATue, Nov 10, 5:19 AM PST · 16387 days ago · 11 km deep · 78 km away
6. 1.57km SSE of Santa Barbara, CAWed, Nov 18, 1:40 AM PST · 16380 days ago · 1 km deep · 76 km away
7. 1.56km SSE of Santa Barbara, CAWed, Nov 18, 1:46 AM PST · 16380 days ago · 1 km deep · 76 km away
8. 2.037km SSW of Lompoc, CAWed, Nov 25, 5:00 AM PST · 16372 days ago · 5 km deep · 51 km away
9. 2.06km SSE of Santa Barbara, CAWed, Nov 25, 6:44 PM PST · 16372 days ago · 1 km deep · 76 km away
10. 2.315 km W of Guadalupe, CaliforniaFri, Nov 27, 1:09 PM PST · 16370 days ago · 1 km deep · 41 km away
11. 1.68 km SW of Templeton, CaliforniaMon, Nov 30, 4:52 AM PST · 16367 days ago · 4 km deep · 92 km away
12. 1.825km S of Lompoc, CAThu, Dec 10, 11:42 AM PST · 16357 days ago · -1 km deep · 38 km away
13. 2.228 km WSW of Guadalupe, CaliforniaSat, Dec 12, 5:25 AM PST · 16355 days ago · 5 km deep · 46 km away
14. 2.44km S of Santa Barbara, CAWed, Dec 16, 5:31 AM PST · 16351 days ago · 13 km deep · 73 km away

Before

1. 1.822km SSW of Carpinteria, CAFri, Oct 16, 5:30 AM PDT · 16412 days ago · 17 km deep · 90 km away
2. 1.64km N of Santa Cruz Is. (NW end), CAWed, Oct 14, 9:30 AM PDT · 16414 days ago · 5 km deep · 82 km away
3. 1.715km SSE of Santa Barbara, CAMon, Oct 12, 3:00 AM PDT · 16416 days ago · 5 km deep · 83 km away
4. 1.98 km WSW of Atascadero, CaliforniaSun, Oct 11, 2:05 PM PDT · 16417 days ago · 6 km deep · 88 km away
5. 2.423km ENE of Santa Maria, CASat, Oct 10, 2:40 PM PDT · 16418 days ago · 11 km deep · 38 km away
6. 2.018km S of Santa Barbara, CAWed, Oct 7, 3:17 AM PDT · 16421 days ago · 1 km deep · 82 km away
7. 1.810 km NNE of Cayucos, CaliforniaMon, Sep 28, 7:25 PM PDT · 16430 days ago · 5 km deep · 97 km away
8. 1.523km WSW of Maricopa, CAFri, Sep 25, 6:39 PM PDT · 16433 days ago · 9 km deep · 72 km away
9. 1.59 km WSW of Atascadero, CaliforniaThu, Sep 24, 5:47 AM PDT · 16434 days ago · 5 km deep · 88 km away
10. 2.337 km WSW of Guadalupe, CaliforniaWed, Sep 23, 5:33 AM PDT · 16435 days ago · 0 km deep · 55 km away

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event ci525849. Read Tue, Sep 22, 2026, 9:21 PM UTC.