Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Hawthorne, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Hawthorne in the 24 hours to 6:10 am PST (14:10 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 3 km (2 mi) east-northeast of Hawthorne, CA, at 6:37 am PDT on 20 September 2016 (13:37 UTC), 12 km deep.
USGS: 3km ENE of Hawthorne, CA
13 km (8 mi) SE of Los Angeles, CA · in Hawthorne, CA
- When
- 6:37 am PDT on 20 September 2016 ()
- Where
- 3 km (2 mi) east-northeast of Hawthorne, CA · earthquakes near Hawthorne
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Los Angeles County, 31 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- Newport-Inglewood-Rose Canyon fault, 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 3705 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Hawthorne, CA
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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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Hawthorne, 3 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: West Athens, Westmont, Lennox, Alondra Park, Gardena, Del Aire.
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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 17 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 38 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 44 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 27 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 42 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.8 The 1991 Sierra Madre, California Earthquake · 49 km NE 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 33.9243, -118.3242. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County, CA | 31 km (19 mi) | N | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Orange County, CA | 58 km (36 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Ventura County, CA | 89 km (55 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
59 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 18km WSW of Manhattan Beach, CA
- 2.7 1km E of Brea, CA
- 1.9 1km ENE of Brea, CA
- 1.5 7km WSW of Huntington Beach, CA
- 1.5 11km SW of Huntington Beach, CA
- 2.8 2km SSE of Malibu, CA
- 1.8 10km SSW of Malibu, CA
- 1.8 4km ESE of Marina del Rey, CA
- 1.7 4km NW of Lake View Terrace, CA
- 1.8 2km W of Pasadena, CA
- 1.5 10km S of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
- 1.6 2km SSE of Duarte, CA
- 2.1 3km W of East Los Angeles, CA
- 1.8 4km NNW of Seal Beach, CA
- 1.9 1km NNW of View Park-Windsor Hills, 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.