QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near La Cañada Flintridge, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in La Cañada Flintridge in the 24 hours to 1:23 pm PST (21:23 UTC). The last one was M 3.8, 57 km (35 mi) WNW, at 8:00 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 199 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near La Cañada Flintridge

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded in La Cañada Flintridge, CA, at 9:38 pm PDT on 3 November 2016 (04:38 UTC), 13 km deep.

USGS: 1km SW of La Canada Flintridge, CA

28 km (17 mi) NE of Los Angeles, CA · in Glendale, CA

9:38 pm PDT, Nov 3, 2016 · · 13 km deep · released about 6.2 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near La Cañada Flintridge Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Los Angeles County 6 kmOrange County 69 kmVentura County 88 km
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
9:38 pm PDT on 3 November 2016 ()
Where
in La Cañada Flintridge, CA · earthquakes near La Cañada Flintridge
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Los Angeles County, 6 km W
Nearest mapped fault
Sierra Madre fault, 2 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 3564 days ago

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

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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: La Crescenta-Montrose, Altadena, Pasadena, Glendale, South Pasadena, Burbank.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.2 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 6.2 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 lists 24 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 31 km W of this epicentre
  2. 6.6 1971 San Fernando Earthquake, California · 29 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 18 km SE of this epicentre
  4. 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 29 km WNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 10km SSW of Agua Dulce, CA · 29 km NNW of this epicentre

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

Epicentre 34.1928, -118.1977. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Los Angeles County, CA 6 km (4 mi) W earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Orange County, CA 69 km (43 mi) SE earthquakes near Orange County
Ventura County, CA 88 km (55 mi) WNW earthquakes near Ventura County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 2 km N of East La Mirada, California
  2. 1.9 2 km N of East La Mirada, California
  3. 1.9 2km SW of MacArthur Park, CA
  4. 2.1 2km SE of Brea, CA
  5. 1.7 2km S of Sherman Oaks, CA
  6. 1.6 3km E of Marina del Rey, CA
  7. 1.6 3km WSW of Lake View Terrace, CA
  8. 2.1 4km SW of Baldwin Hills, CA
  9. 1.6 4km SSE of San Fernando, CA
  10. 1.6 2km WSW of Lakewood, CA
  11. 1.6 2km SE of Hawthorne, CA
  12. 1.9 7km NNW of Granada Hills, CA
  13. 1.8 7km NNW of Granada Hills, CA
  14. 1.8 5km S of Sherman Oaks, CA
  15. 1.9 2km NW of Willowbrook, CA

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

On USGS

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