QuakeIndex

Earthquake · automatic estimate, may change

M 2.2ml

Earthquake near Los Angeles, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Los Angeles in the 24 hours to 4:52 am PST (12:52 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 30 km (19 mi) S, at 12:44 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Los Angeles

This page: a magnitude 2.2 earthquake was recorded 44 km (27 mi) west of Los Angeles, CA, at 1:50 pm PST on 6 December 2016 (21:50 UTC), 56 km deep. The magnitude and location are an automatic first estimate and may change.

USGS: 5km NW of Malibu Beach, CA

29 km (18 mi) W of Los Angeles, CA · 20 km (12 mi) SE of Thousand Oaks, CA

1:50 pm PST, Dec 6, 2016 · · 56 km deep · released about 54 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Los Angeles Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Los Angeles County 45 kmVentura County 50 kmOrange County 97 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
1:50 pm PST on 6 December 2016 ()
Where
44 km (27 mi) west of Los Angeles, CA · earthquakes near Los Angeles
Magnitude
M 2.2 (ml)
Depth
56 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Los Angeles County, 45 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
Malibu Coast fault, 3 km from its surface trace — near is not the same as on
Status
Automatic — a machine’s first estimate, which may change

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. In Los Angeles, 44 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Malibu, Agoura, Agoura Hills, Topanga, Westlake Village, Hidden Hills.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 54 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 280,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 200,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 18× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.2 about 54 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 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 24 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 31 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 5.6 7km NNE of Simi Valley, California · 29 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 22 km ESE of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 The 1973 Point Mugu, California Earthquake · 32 km WSW 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 34.0663, -118.7217. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Los Angeles County, CA 45 km (28 mi) ENE earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Ventura County, CA 50 km (31 mi) NW earthquakes near Ventura County
Orange County, CA 97 km (61 mi) ESE earthquakes near Orange County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 3km E of Gardena, CA
  2. 3.3 17km W of Malibu, CA
  3. 1.6 5 km SSW of Malibu, California
  4. 2.0 5 km ESE of Piru, California
  5. 1.6 4 km NNW of Malibu, California
  6. 1.9 3 km NNW of Malibu, California
  7. 2.1 3 km NNW of Malibu, California
  8. 2.2 6 km NW of San Fernando, California
  9. 3.1 2 km WNW of Santa Monica, California
  10. 1.8 1 km NNW of North Hills, California
  11. 1.9 2km SW of MacArthur Park, CA
  12. 1.7 4km N of Simi Valley, CA
  13. 1.7 2km S of Sherman Oaks, CA
  14. 1.6 3km E of Marina del Rey, CA
  15. 1.6 3km WSW of Lake View Terrace, 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.