Earthquake near Lake Los Angeles, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Lake Los Angeles in the 24 hours to 9:41 am PST (17:41 UTC). The last one was M 4.3, 78 km (48 mi) N, at 9:40 am PDT on 13 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Lake Los Angeles

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) northeast of Lake Los Angeles, CA, at 3:08 am PDT on 17 October 2018 (10:08 UTC), 6.7 km deep.

USGS: 10km NE of Lake Los Angeles, CA

95 km (59 mi) NE of Los Angeles, CA · 34 km (21 mi) ENE of Palmdale, CA

3:08 am PDT, Oct 17, 2018 · 2018-10-17 10:08 UTC · 6.7 km deep · released about 14 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Lake Los Angeles Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area

Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.

When: 3:08 am PDT on 17 October 2018 (2018-10-17 10:08 UTC)
Where: 10 km (6 mi) northeast of Lake Los Angeles, CA · earthquakes near Lake Los Angeles
Magnitude: M 1.8 (ml)
Depth: 6.7 km below the surface
Felt: no reports yet
Nearest: Los Angeles County, 71 km SW
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 2943 days ago · we first saw it 2943 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Lake Los Angeles, 10 km away, the estimate is intensity II (weak). Estimated from magnitude, depth and distance with the intensity equation USGS Did You Feel It? uses; felt reports, where there are any, are the measurement.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Sun Village, Littlerock, Piñon Hills.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 14 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,100,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 790,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 70× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 1.8 about 14 lb of TNT

Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.

For this area

No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.

Before 2016, the USGS record since 1900 lists no earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km.

Since 2016: the QuakeIndex catalogue (US, M1.5+), built from the USGS FDSN event service. Before 2016: USGS ComCat, M5+ from 1900. Distances are between epicentres. This is the record, not a forecast.

Where

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Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction from the epicentre
Los Angeles County, CA	71 km (44 mi)	SW	earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Orange County, CA	111 km (69 mi)	S	earthquakes near Orange County
Kern County, CA	116 km (72 mi)	NW	earthquakes near Kern County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

37 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 17:41 UTC. QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.