March 25, 1806 Earthquake: Santa Barbara, California, United States
An earthquake struck Santa Barbara, California, United States on March 25, 1806 at 08:00 UTC. It caused a tsunami.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- March 25, 1806
- Time
- 08:00 UTC
- Place
- Santa Barbara, California, United States
- Intensity
- 6 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 34.400° N, 119.700° W
- Country
- United States
The toll
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
Cracked walls of Mission Santa Barbara, boats beached.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- March 11, 1933, Long Beach, California, United States
- February 9, 1971, San Fernando, California, United States
- January 17, 1994, Northridge, California, United States
- December 8, 1812, San Juan Capistrano, California, United States
- June 29, 1925, Santa Barbara, California, United States
- July 21, 1952, Kern County, California, United States
- October 1, 1987, Whittier, California, United States
- August 22, 1952, Kern County, California, United States
- June 28, 1991, Arcadia, Glendale, Los Angeles, California, United States
- January 9, 1857, San Luis Obispo, California, United States
- December 22, 2003, Paso Robles,templeton,atascadero, California, United States
- December 21, 1812, Purisima, California, United States
- August 31, 1930, Southern, California, United States
- October 4, 1987, Whittier, Pasadena, California, United States
- May 31, 1854, Southern, California, United States
More
Significant earthquakes of 1806The 1800sRecent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 5857.