December 21, 1812 Earthquake: Purisima, California, United States
A magnitude 7.5 earthquake struck Purisima, California, United States on December 21, 1812 at 19:00 UTC. It killed 1 person, counting the tsunami it caused.
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
- December 21, 1812
- Time
- 19:00 UTC
- Place
- Purisima, California, United States
- Magnitude
- 7.5 (Ms)
- Intensity
- 8 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 34.200° N, 119.900° W
- Country
- United States
The toll
- Deaths
- 1
- Injuries
- Few (about 1 to 50)
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses destroyed
- Few (about 1 to 50) with its tsunami and other effects
- Houses damaged
- 100
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.
1812, December 21, 10:30 (local time). There was a strong earthquake in the south of California, accompanied by an "enormous" tsunami in the Santa Barbara Strait (according to other sources, the tsunami was caused not by the first, but by a second, more powerful earthquake at 10:45 local time).
The earthquake was preceded by a weaker shock on December 8, which was felt from San Diego as far as the Franciscan Mission of Purisima...
The following is known about the earthquake of the 21st. The church of San Fernando was seriously damaged. At Ventura, the church was so heavily damaged that the facade and dome had to be reset. At Santa Barbara, the buildings of the mission and the fort were damaged; recurrent shocks lasted several months; the residents left the settlement and lived in the open air for two or three months. At Santa Inez, the roofs on all structures collapsed; the corner of the church building collapsed. At Purisma, the earthquake lasted 4 minutes and was so strong, that one could only remain standing with difficulty. Fifteen minutes to 30 minutes after the first shock, a second shock occurred. The church collapsed and all one hundred Indian homes and the public kitchen, made of adobe and covered with tiles, crumbled or cracked; several residents were injured. The mission was later rebuilt in another place. In the focal zone (possibly near Santa Barbara), the alluvial ground cracked; new mud volcanoes and asphalt springs appeared.
The previous is from reference #415.
This major earthquake caused damage in Santa Barbara, Ventura, and northern Los Angeles Counties. One fatality was reported, but many lives were probably saved by a strong foreshock about 15 minutes earlier that sent alarmed residents fleeing from buildings (Ref #542). Trask (Ref #2541) reports that this earthquake occurred in September -- the event has apparently been attributed to September, October, or December (Ref #79). Trask reports that the number of deaths is "variously estimated from thirty to forty-five" and gives a long account of the event.
Magnitudes listed:
7.1 ML (Ref #542)
7.7 Unk (Ref #237)
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
- 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
- January 9, 1857, San Luis Obispo, California, United States
- June 28, 1991, Arcadia, Glendale, Los Angeles, California, United States
- August 31, 1930, Southern, California, United States
- October 4, 1987, Whittier, Pasadena, California, United States
- August 13, 1978, Southern, California, United States
- March 25, 1806, Santa Barbara, California, United States
- May 31, 1854, Southern, California, United States
- July 28, 1902, Southern, California, United States
More
Significant earthquakes of 1812The 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 1610.