QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Los Angeles, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Los Angeles in the 24 hours to 2:38 am PST (10:38 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 30 km (19 mi) S, at 12:44 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Los Angeles

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) west-southwest of Los Angeles, CA, at 1:11 pm PDT on 27 August 2016 (20:11 UTC), 9.3 km deep.

USGS: 0km SSW of Baldwin Hills, CA

in Los Angeles, CA

1:11 pm PDT, Aug 27, 2016 · · 9.3 km deep · released about 6.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Los Angeles Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Los Angeles County 24 kmOrange County 66 kmVentura County 81 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
1:11 pm PDT on 27 August 2016 ()
Where
13 km (8 mi) west-southwest of Los Angeles, CA · earthquakes near Los Angeles
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
9.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Los Angeles County, 24 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 3727 days ago

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 5 km (3 mi) from the epicentre. In Los Angeles, 13 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: Inglewood 5 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.4 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 23 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 28 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.6 1971 San Fernando Earthquake, California · 46 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 28 km ENE of this epicentre
  4. 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 33 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 10km SSW of Agua Dulce, CA · 46 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 33.9987, -118.3733. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Los Angeles County, CA 24 km (15 mi) NNE earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Orange County, CA 66 km (41 mi) ESE earthquakes near Orange County
Ventura County, CA 81 km (50 mi) WNW earthquakes near Ventura County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 2km ENE of Inglewood, CA
  2. 2.8 30km WSW of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  3. 2.4 1km ENE of Brea, CA
  4. 1.7 7km WSW of Huntington Beach, CA
  5. 2.1 7km WSW of Huntington Beach, CA
  6. 1.8 18km SSW of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  7. 2.6 31km WSW of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  8. 2.1 7km WSW of Santa Monica, CA
  9. 2.2 5km NW of Malibu Beach, CA
  10. 1.9 19km S of Malibu Beach, CA
  11. 2.6 7km NNE of Lake View Terrace, CA
  12. 2.0 3km WSW of Panorama City, CA
  13. 2.3 14km SSE of Malibu Beach, CA
  14. 1.6 4km WSW of Compton, CA
  15. 2.0 2km ESE of Rowland Heights, 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.