QuakeIndex

Fault · California

Catalina fault

109 kmlong (68 mi), as mapped
1–5 mm/yrhow fast it slips
< 15,000 yearssince it last broke the surface
6quakes of M2.5+ within 10 km since 2016

In plain English

The two sides move 1 to 5 mm a year — 10 to 50 cm (4 to 20 inches) every century.

Its most recent surface rupture is younger than 15,000 years.

This week vs. its last ten years

Too quiet to rank: fewer than half a year's worth of weeks with any M1.5+ quake within 5 km, in ten years. A single quake here would read as "unusual", so we do not score it.

Computed from the USGS catalogue · a description of the past, not a forecast · method

San Andreas faultElsinore faultSan Jacinto faultNewport-Inglewood-Rose Canyon faultSan Clemente faultSan Diego Trough faultPalos Verdes faultSan Pedro Basin faultSanta Cruz Island faultMalibu Coast faultSanta Cruz faultDume faultPuente Hills blind thrust systemSanta Monica faultSan Onofre faultSan Joaquin Hills thrustCarslbad Ridge faultHollywood fault
The Catalina fault as mapped at the surface (glowing), with the other mapped faults nearby, 6 of the M2.5+ earthquakes within 10 km of it since 2016 (dots), . Traces: USGS Quaternary Fault and Fold Database. Historic epicentres are estimates.

Every year since 2016

Earthquakes of M2.5+ with an epicentre within 10 km of the mapped trace. Near is not the same as on: some will have slipped on neighbouring faults.

Most recent near it

  1. M 3.3 26 km ESE of Avalon, CA
    2026-09-12 · 9 km from the trace
  2. M 3.0 26 km ESE of Avalon, CA
    2026-09-12 · 8 km from the trace
  3. M 2.5 26 km ESE of Avalon, CA
    2026-09-12 · 7 km from the trace
  4. M 2.8 24km ESE of Santa Barbara Is., CA
    2023-02-07 · 5 km from the trace
  5. M 3.0 30km SSE of Avalon, CA
    2018-01-04 · 9 km from the trace
  6. M 3.2 32km ESE of Avalon, CA
    2016-04-08 · 3 km from the trace

Neighbouring faults

Fault trace, slip rate and age: USGS Quaternary Fault and Fold Database (public domain), simplified for the web. Earthquakes: USGS ComCat. QuakeIndex does not forecast earthquakes; a fault's history describes the past. For early warning use ShakeAlert.