QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.2ml

Earthquake near Newport Beach, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Newport Beach in the 24 hours to 3:39 am PST (11:39 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 30 km (19 mi) NW, at 12:44 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Newport Beach

This page: a magnitude 3.2 earthquake was recorded 48 km (30 mi) south-southwest of Newport Beach, CA, at 6:45 pm PDT on 7 April 2016 (01:45 UTC), 18 km deep. 4 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 32km ESE of Avalon, CA

99 km (61 mi) SSE of Los Angeles, CA · 47 km (29 mi) SSW of Newport Beach, CA

6:45 pm PDT, Apr 7, 2016 · · 18 km deep · released about 1,700 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Newport Beach Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Orange County 59 kmLos Angeles County 114 kmSan Diego County 118 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
6:45 pm PDT on 7 April 2016 ()
Where
48 km (30 mi) south-southwest of Newport Beach, CA · earthquakes near Newport Beach
Magnitude
M 3.2 (ml)
Depth
18 km below the surface
Felt
4 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Orange County, 59 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault
San Diego Trough fault, under 1 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 1611 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 41 km (25 mi) from the epicentre. In Newport Beach, 48 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.

Likely felt in: Avalon 32 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 1,700 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 9,100× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 6,500× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.2 about 1,700 lb of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 1.7× more

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 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 49 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.8 11km NNE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA · 40 km SW of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 The 1986 Oceanside, California Earthquake · 29 km SSE of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 7km W of Newport Beach, CA · 48 km N 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 33.1918, -118.0310. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Orange County, CA 59 km (36 mi) NNE earthquakes near Orange County
Los Angeles County, CA 114 km (71 mi) N earthquakes near Los Angeles County
San Diego County, CA 118 km (74 mi) E earthquakes near San Diego County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 4km W of Dana Point, CA
  2. 2.7 18km NNE of Avalon, CA
  3. 1.9 20km S of San Pedro, CA
  4. 2.1 42km ESE of Avalon, CA
  5. 1.7 46km SSW of Dana Point, CA
  6. 2.0 8km SSW of Huntington Beach, CA
  7. 2.4 28km SSE of Avalon, CA
  8. 3.0 30km SSE of Avalon, CA
  9. 1.7 4km SE of Dana Point, CA
  10. 2.7 34km SSE of Avalon, CA
  11. 3.7 19km NE of Avalon, CA
  12. 2.5 45km SE of Avalon, CA
  13. 1.9 13km SW of Dana Point, CA
  14. 1.9 1km ESE of Dana Point, CA
  15. 1.8 1km E of Dana Point, 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.