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United States · California

M2.9 Earthquake near Santa Barbara County, California (United States)

UTC time: 2026-08-09 06:37:39 UTC Local time: —
Magnitude
M2.9
Depth
3.9 km
Source
USGS

California · Santa Barbara County

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About this earthquake

On August 9, 2026 at 06:37 UTC, a magnitude M2.9 earthquake occurred near Santa Barbara County, California (United States). With a focal depth of about 4 km, this was a shallow earthquake, whose shaking is usually felt more strongly at the surface. Events of this size typically go unnoticed.

The event was recorded by USGS. United States: over the past 24 hours, QuakeMap24 logged 200 earthquakes, the strongest at M3.9.

Depth profile

Depth profile Depth: 3.9 km (Shallow) Surface Shallow Intermediate Deep 0 km 70 km 300 km 700 km 3.9 km
Shallow
3.9 km
3.9 km — shallower than the regional average (15.2 km)
Regional average: 15.2 km
Why depth matters

Shallow quakes release energy near the surface — shaking is felt more strongly and damage potential is higher.

Depth classes per USGS

Volcanoes nearby

  • Mammoth Mountain
    Distance: 368 km ·Lava dome(s) ·Elevation: 3'369 m ·Last eruption: 1260 ·United States
  • Mono-Inyo Craters
    Distance: 386 km ·Lava dome(s) ·Elevation: 2'796 m ·Last eruption: 1380 ·United States
  • Ubehebe Craters
    Distance: 388 km ·Maar(s) ·Elevation: 752 m ·Last eruption: -150 ·United States
  • Mono Lake Volcanic Field
    Distance: 407 km ·Volcanic field ·Elevation: 2'121 m ·Last eruption: 1790 ·United States
  • Salton Buttes
    Distance: 473 km ·Lava dome(s) ·Elevation: -40 m ·Last eruption: 210 ·United States

Radius · 50 km

Nearby infrastructure

Up to 3 nearest sites per category

Airports

  • Santa Maria Public Airport Captain G Allan Hancock FieldUnited States · SMX · KSMX
    40.5 kmStraight-line distance

Source: OurAirports · Dataset date: 2026-09-23

This selection shows geographic proximity, not a hazard zone or confirmed impacts. Distances use recorded site coordinates. Sources & data dates

California

Context for this earthquake

24 Sep 2025 – 24 Sep 2026 · M ≥ 2.0 · 2,418 Catalogue entries

Of 2,417 other entries for this area and period, 279 have a higher stored magnitude. Different magnitude types and reports not yet merged limit the comparison.

Open seismic profile

Historic earthquake map · United States

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Country statistics · United States

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View earthquake KPIs, strongest and latest events, and averages for this country.

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