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 4:21 am PST (12:21 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 6 km (4 mi) southwest of Los Angeles, CA, at 9:22 am PDT on 2 September 2017 (16:22 UTC), 13 km deep.

USGS: 6km S of MacArthur Park, CA

12 km (7 mi) E of Los Angeles, CA · 7 km (4 mi) WNW of Huntington Park, CA

9:22 am PDT, Sep 2, 2017 · · 13 km deep · released about 6.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Los Angeles Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Los Angeles County 21 kmOrange County 60 kmVentura County 87 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
9:22 am PDT on 2 September 2017 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) southwest of Los Angeles, CA · earthquakes near Los Angeles
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Los Angeles County, 21 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Puente Hills blind thrust system, 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 3304 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 Los Angeles, 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: Florence-Graham, Huntington Park, Walnut Park, Westmont, Inglewood, South Gate.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.6 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 2,300,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.6 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 22 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 32 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 6.6 1971 San Fernando Earthquake, California · 46 km N of this epicentre
  3. 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 50 km SSE of this epicentre
  4. 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 20 km ENE of this epicentre
  5. 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 35 km NNW 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 34.0078, -118.2860. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Los Angeles County, CA 21 km (13 mi) N earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Orange County, CA 60 km (37 mi) SE earthquakes near Orange County
Ventura County, CA 87 km (54 mi) WNW earthquakes near Ventura 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. 1.6 2km NNE of Granada Hills, CA
  2. 2.1 2km WSW of Hermosa Beach, CA
  3. 1.6 3km N of Monrovia, CA
  4. 1.6 4km WNW of La Mirada, CA
  5. 1.6 3km S of South Whittier, CA
  6. 1.6 2km W of Walnut, CA
  7. 1.8 9km S of Seal Beach, CA
  8. 1.7 12km SSW of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  9. 2.1 5km ESE of San Pedro, CA
  10. 2.3 4km WSW of Malibu Beach, CA
  11. 3.1 6km W of Topanga, CA
  12. 1.9 2km NE of Villa Park, CA
  13. 1.7 1km W of Woodland Hills, CA
  14. 1.8 13km SE of Malibu, CA
  15. 1.9 3km NNW of Beverly 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.