Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.9ml
Earthquake near Seal Beach, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Seal Beach in the 24 hours to 11:03 pm PST (07:03 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 9 km (6 mi) NW, at 12:44 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Seal Beach
This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) northwest of Seal Beach, CA, at 1:54 pm PDT on 6 October 2016 (20:54 UTC), 15 km deep. 971 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 3km NW of Seal Beach, CA
in Long Beach, CA · 39 km (24 mi) SE of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 1:54 pm PDT on 6 October 2016 ()
- Where
- 3 km (2 mi) northwest of Seal Beach, CA · earthquakes near Seal Beach
- Magnitude
- M 2.9 (ml)
- Depth
- 15 km below the surface
- Felt
- 971 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Nearest
- Orange County, 33 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Newport-Inglewood-Rose Canyon fault, 7 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 3685 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Seal Beach, 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 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 27 km (17 mi) from the epicentre. In Seal Beach, 3 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: Seal Beach 3 km, intensity III · Long Beach 6 km, intensity III · Signal Hill 6 km, intensity III · Cypress 10 km, intensity II · Lakewood 10 km, intensity II · Westminster 11 km, intensity II · Cerritos 12 km, intensity II · Stanton 13 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 630 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 24,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 17,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.5× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.9 about 630 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 11 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 19 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 34 km N of this epicentre
- 5.4 5km S of Chino Hills, CA · 39 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 44 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.3 7km W of Newport Beach, CA · 19 km SE 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 33.7610, -118.1243. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange County, CA | 33 km (21 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 50 km (31 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Ventura County, CA | 114 km (71 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
54 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 2km SW of MacArthur Park, CA
- 2.1 2km SE of Brea, CA
- 1.6 3km E of Marina del Rey, CA
- 1.7 10km WNW of Corona, CA
- 2.1 4km SW of Baldwin Hills, CA
- 2.0 19km NNW of Avalon, CA
- 1.6 2km WSW of Lakewood, CA
- 1.6 2km SE of Hawthorne, CA
- 2.4 10km S of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
- 1.8 5km S of Sherman Oaks, CA
- 1.9 2km NW of Willowbrook, CA
- 1.6 3km WSW of Compton, CA
- 1.6 1km ESE of Hawthorne, CA
- 1.9 1km SSE of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA
- 1.6 18km WSW of Manhattan Beach, 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.