Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Valencia, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Valencia in the 24 hours to 6:52 am PST (14:52 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 6 km (4 mi) S, at 8:32 am PDT on 18 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 16 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Valencia
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 26 km (16 mi) north-northwest of Valencia, CA, at 12:09 pm PDT on 28 August 2016 (19:09 UTC), 4.3 km deep.
USGS: 20km SSE of Gorman, CA
76 km (47 mi) NNW of Los Angeles, CA · 34 km (21 mi) NW of Santa Clarita, CA
- When
- 12:09 pm PDT on 28 August 2016 ()
- Where
- 26 km (16 mi) north-northwest of Valencia, CA · earthquakes near Valencia
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 4.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Ventura County, 47 km SW
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Gabriel fault, 3 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
Earthquake alerts for Valencia, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Valencia, CA. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Valencia, 26 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: Castaic, Val Verde, Lebec, Piru, Frazier Park.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.8 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,200,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.8 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
The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.1 on 2016-03-12 — about 6,900 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 27 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 7.5 The 1952 Kern County, California Earthquake · 42 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.6 1971 San Fernando Earthquake, California · 43 km SE of this epicentre
- 6.0 Tejon Pass, California · 32 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 47 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.8 13km WNW of Grapevine, CA · 47 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 34.6413, -118.7550. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ventura County, CA | 47 km (29 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 67 km (42 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Kern County, CA | 78 km (49 mi) | N | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 118 km (73 mi) | W | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Orange County, CA | 140 km (87 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Orange County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
45 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.9 2km NNW of Frazier Park, CA
- 1.6 6km S of Piru, CA
- 1.6 4km NW of Frazier Park, CA
- 3.5 5km NNW of Frazier Park, CA
- 2.2 19 km NE of Ojai, California
- 2.0 5 km ESE of Piru, California
- 2.2 6 km NW of San Fernando, California
- 2.2 4 km ENE of Ojai, California
- 1.5 5 km NW of Lake of the Woods, California
- 1.8 1 km NNW of North Hills, California
- 1.6 5km NE of Lebec, CA
- 1.7 4km N of Simi Valley, CA
- 1.6 14km N of Castaic, CA
- 1.5 15km N of Fillmore, CA
- 1.5 9km NNE of Castaic, 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
- 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.