QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.6ml

Earthquake near Long Beach, CA

Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Long Beach in the last 24 hours. M 2.4, 10 km (6 mi) SSW of Long Beach, at 6:11 pm PST on 12 November 2026 (02:11 UTC); the estimated shaking in Long Beach was intensity II (weak). 14 people have reported feeling it to USGS. Every earthquake near Long Beach

This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 49 km (31 mi) west-southwest of Long Beach, CA, at 6:37 am PST on 11 December 2016 (14:37 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

USGS: 31km WSW of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA

48 km (30 mi) SW of Los Angeles, CA · 35 km (22 mi) SW of Redondo Beach, CA

6:37 am PST, Dec 11, 2016 · · -0.1 km deep · released about 260 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Long Beach Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Los Angeles County 72 kmVentura County 86 kmOrange County 86 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
6:37 am PST on 11 December 2016 ()
Where
49 km (31 mi) west-southwest of Long Beach, CA · earthquakes near Long Beach
Magnitude
M 2.6 (ml)
Depth
-0.1 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Los Angeles County, 72 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
San Pedro Basin fault, 14 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 3565 days ago

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 24 km (15 mi) from the epicentre. In Long Beach, 49 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 260 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 59,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 42,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 3.7× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.6 about 260 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 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 5.5 11km NNW of Santa Barbara Is., CA · 40 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 42 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.3 The 1973 Point Mugu, California Earthquake · 47 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 1 km SW of Las Flores, California · 41 km N of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 13km S of Malibu Beach, CA · 27 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 33.6695, -118.7092. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Los Angeles County, CA 72 km (45 mi) NE earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Ventura County, CA 86 km (53 mi) NNW earthquakes near Ventura County
Orange County, CA 86 km (54 mi) E earthquakes near Orange County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 17km SSE of Malibu, CA
  2. 1.7 15km SW of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  3. 1.5 6km SSE of Malibu, CA
  4. 1.5 2km NW of Lennox, CA
  5. 1.8 17km SSE of Malibu, CA
  6. 1.7 6km SW of Signal Hill, CA
  7. 1.8 0km WNW of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA
  8. 1.7 0km SSE of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA
  9. 1.6 6km ESE of Agoura Hills, CA
  10. 1.6 2km WSW of San Pedro, CA
  11. 1.6 1km SE of Malibu Beach, CA
  12. 2.3 5km W of El Segundo, CA
  13. 1.9 2km SE of Carson, CA
  14. 1.6 12km SSW of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  15. 1.9 3km E of Gardena, 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.