Earthquake near Santa Clarita, CA

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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Santa Clarita, 7 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: Santa Clarita 7 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 15 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.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 730,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 65× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 20 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 13 km S of this epicentre Jan 17, 1994
2. 6.6 1971 San Fernando Earthquake, California · 19 km ENE of this epicentre Feb 9, 1971
3. 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 7 km SE of this epicentre Jan 17, 1994
4. 5.8 10km SSW of Agua Dulce, CA · 19 km ENE of this epicentre Feb 9, 1971
5. 5.8 10km SSW of Agua Dulce, CA · 19 km ENE of this epicentre Feb 9, 1971

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 34.3255, -118.5420. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 1.6 4km S of Hollywood, CA 05:18 UTC
2. 1.7 3km NW of Castaic, CA 19:50 UTC
3. 3.4 3km NW of Castaic, CA 19:46 UTC
4. 1.8 0km WNW of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA 12:49 UTC
5. 2.0 1km SSW of Sherman Oaks, CA 06:46 UTC
6. 2.0 6km NE of Altadena, CA 16:06 UTC
7. 1.7 0km SSE of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA 13:26 UTC
8. 1.6 21km N of Fillmore, CA 00:02 UTC
9. 1.7 0km SE of Century City, CA 14:48 UTC
10. 1.6 6km ESE of Agoura Hills, CA 10:10 UTC
11. 1.9 7km WSW of Santa Clarita, CA 08:13 UTC
12. 1.7 4km SSE of Encino, CA 11:51 UTC
13. 1.9 9km WNW of Lake Hughes, CA 20:05 UTC
14. 2.1 4km NNE of Granada Hills, CA 19:33 UTC
15. 1.5 9km WNW of Lake Hughes, CA 18:20 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 22:25 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.