QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Malibu, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Malibu in the 24 hours to 11:57 pm PST (07:57 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 1.6 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) south-southwest of Malibu, CA, at 10:20 pm PDT on 23 May 2017 (05:20 UTC), 15 km deep.

USGS: 5 km SSW of Malibu, California

36 km (22 mi) W of Los Angeles, CA · 25 km (16 mi) SSE of Thousand Oaks, CA

10:20 pm PDT, May 23, 2017 · · 15 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Malibu Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Ventura County 53 kmLos Angeles County 55 kmOrange County 100 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
10:20 pm PDT on 23 May 2017 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) south-southwest of Malibu, CA · earthquakes near Malibu
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Ventura County, 53 km NW
Nearest mapped fault
Dume 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 3432 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 Malibu, 6 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Agoura Hills, Westlake Village, Agoura, Topanga, Thousand Oaks, Oak Park.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.6 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 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× 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 7.6 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 · 35 km NE of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 43 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 5.6 7km NNE of Simi Valley, California · 40 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 27 km E of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 The 1973 Point Mugu, California Earthquake · 24 km W 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 33.9755, -118.7932. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Ventura County, CA 53 km (33 mi) NW earthquakes near Ventura County
Los Angeles County, CA 55 km (34 mi) ENE earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Orange County, CA 100 km (62 mi) ESE earthquakes near Orange County
Santa Barbara County, CA 130 km (81 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

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

  1. 2.3 4km WSW of Malibu Beach, CA
  2. 1.6 2km SSE of Piru, CA
  3. 2.1 3km SE of Piru, CA
  4. 2.4 4km SE of Piru, CA
  5. 1.9 33km S of Malibu, CA
  6. 3.1 6km W of Topanga, CA
  7. 1.7 1km W of Woodland Hills, CA
  8. 1.8 13km SE of Malibu, CA
  9. 1.9 3km NNW of Beverly Hills, CA
  10. 1.9 6km N of Moorpark, CA
  11. 2.5 4km SE of Malibu, CA
  12. 2.5 6km SSE of Malibu, CA
  13. 1.9 12km SSE of Malibu Beach, CA
  14. 3.1 5km WNW of Willowbrook, CA
  15. 2.1 5km WNW of Willowbrook, 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.