February 1, 1853 Earthquake: San Simeon, California, United States
An earthquake struck San Simeon, California, United States on February 1, 1853 at 21:00 UTC.
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
- February 1, 1853
- Time
- 21:00 UTC
- Place
- San Simeon, California, United States
- Intensity
- 8 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 35.500° N, 121.000° W
- Country
- United States
The toll
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 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.
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- October 18, 1989, Loma Prieta, California, United States
- June 29, 1925, Santa Barbara, California, United States
- July 21, 1952, Kern County, California, United States
- December 22, 2003, Paso Robles,templeton,atascadero, California, United States
- January 9, 1857, San Luis Obispo, California, United States
- August 22, 1952, Kern County, California, United States
- December 21, 1812, Purisima, California, United States
- September 28, 2004, Parkfield, San Miguel, Central, California, United States
- March 3, 1901, San Diego, California, United States
- November 4, 1927, Off Coast, S, California, United States
- May 2, 1983, Central, Coalinga, California, United States
- July 28, 1902, Southern, California, United States
- March 25, 1806, Santa Barbara, California, United States
- May 31, 1854, Southern, California, United States
- August 13, 1978, Southern, California, United States
More
Significant earthquakes of 1853The 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 1938.