QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.7ml

Earthquake near Malibu, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Malibu in the 24 hours to 4:25 am PST (12:25 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 8 km (5 mi) W, at 4:53 am PDT on 16 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Malibu

This page: a magnitude 2.7 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) west of Malibu, CA, at 9:32 pm PDT on 21 March 2017 (04:32 UTC), 4.1 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 3km NNW of Malibu, CA

38 km (24 mi) W of Los Angeles, CA · 19 km (12 mi) SSE of Thousand Oaks, CA

9:32 pm PDT, Mar 21, 2017 · · 4.1 km deep · released about 290 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Malibu Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Ventura County 46 kmLos Angeles County 55 kmOrange County 104 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
9:32 pm PDT on 21 March 2017 ()
Where
4 km (3 mi) west of Malibu, CA · earthquakes near Malibu
Magnitude
M 2.7 (ml)
Depth
4.1 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Ventura County, 46 km NW
Nearest mapped fault
Malibu Coast 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 3467 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 24 km (15 mi) from the epicentre. In Malibu, 4 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Agoura 15 km, intensity II · Thousand Oaks 16 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 290 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 51,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 36,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.7 about 290 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 · 33 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 41 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 5.6 7km NNE of Simi Valley, California · 35 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 30 km E of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 The 1973 Point Mugu, California Earthquake · 22 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 34.0295, -118.8240. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Ventura County, CA 46 km (29 mi) NW earthquakes near Ventura County
Los Angeles County, CA 55 km (34 mi) ENE earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Orange County, CA 104 km (65 mi) ESE earthquakes near Orange County
Santa Barbara County, CA 125 km (78 mi) WNW earthquakes near Santa Barbara County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 7km N of Ventura, CA
  2. 1.9 3km SE of Chatsworth, CA
  3. 2.3 5km SW of Port Hueneme, CA
  4. 1.9 5km NW of Westwood, CA
  5. 3.6 5km NW of Westwood, CA
  6. 2.0 17km SSE of Malibu, CA
  7. 1.5 6km SSE of Malibu, CA
  8. 1.5 2km NW of Lennox, CA
  9. 1.8 17km SSE of Malibu, CA
  10. 1.6 6km S of MacArthur Park, CA
  11. 1.6 4km S of Hollywood, CA
  12. 1.8 0km WNW of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA
  13. 2.0 1km SSW of Sherman Oaks, CA
  14. 1.7 0km SSE of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA
  15. 1.7 0km SE of Century City, 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.