QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Hawthorne, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Hawthorne in the 24 hours to 1:43 am PST (09:43 UTC). The last one was M 1.8, 6 km (4 mi) ESE, at 2:31 pm PDT on 31 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Hawthorne

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded in Hawthorne, CA, at 11:46 pm PDT on 19 March 2017 (06:46 UTC), 14 km deep.

USGS: 2km SE of Hawthorne, CA

14 km (9 mi) SSE of Los Angeles, CA · in Hawthorne, CA

11:46 pm PDT, Mar 19, 2017 · · 14 km deep · released about 7.3 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Hawthorne Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Los Angeles County 33 kmOrange County 58 kmVentura County 89 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
11:46 pm PDT on 19 March 2017 ()
Where
in Hawthorne, CA · earthquakes near Hawthorne
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Los Angeles County, 33 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault
Newport-Inglewood-Rose Canyon fault, 4 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 3467 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: Alondra Park, Lawndale, Del Aire, Gardena, Lennox, West Athens.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.3 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.3 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 · 39 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 44 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 30 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 44 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 18 km NW 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 33.9040, -118.3397. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Los Angeles County, CA 33 km (21 mi) NNE earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Orange County, CA 58 km (36 mi) ESE earthquakes near Orange County
Ventura County, CA 89 km (55 mi) NW earthquakes near Ventura County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 2km NW of Lennox, CA
  2. 1.8 17km SSE of Malibu, CA
  3. 1.7 6km SW of Signal Hill, CA
  4. 1.6 6km S of MacArthur Park, CA
  5. 1.6 4km S of Hollywood, CA
  6. 1.8 4km WSW of Huntington Beach, CA
  7. 1.8 0km WNW of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA
  8. 1.6 3km NNW of Baldwin Park, CA
  9. 2.0 1km SSW of Sherman Oaks, CA
  10. 2.0 6km NE of Altadena, CA
  11. 1.7 0km SSE of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA
  12. 1.7 0km SE of Century City, CA
  13. 1.6 6km ESE of Agoura Hills, CA
  14. 1.7 6km WSW of Huntington Beach, CA
  15. 2.0 5km NNW of Yorba Linda, 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.