Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Palmdale, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Palmdale in the 24 hours to 4:46 am PST (12:46 UTC). The last one was M 3.8, 63 km (39 mi) WSW, at 8:00 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 199 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Palmdale
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 21 km (13 mi) southeast of Palmdale, CA, at 4:22 pm PST on 30 December 2016 (00:22 UTC), 8.6 km deep.
USGS: 8km SSW of Pearblossum, CA
64 km (40 mi) NE of Los Angeles, CA · 21 km (13 mi) SE of Palmdale, CA
- When
- 4:22 pm PST on 30 December 2016 ()
- Where
- 21 km (13 mi) southeast of Palmdale, CA · earthquakes near Palmdale
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Los Angeles County, 40 km SW
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas 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 3564 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Palmdale, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Palmdale, 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Palmdale, 21 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: Littlerock, Sun Village, Vincent, Lake Los Angeles, Acton, Desert View Highlands.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 16 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 970,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 680,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 61× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 16 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 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.6 1971 San Fernando Earthquake, California · 38 km W of this epicentre
- 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 45 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.8 10km SSW of Agua Dulce, CA · 38 km W of this epicentre
- 5.8 10km SSW of Agua Dulce, CA · 38 km W of this epicentre
- 5.8 The 1991 Sierra Madre, California Earthquake · 20 km S 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 34.4480, -117.9522. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County, CA | 40 km (25 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Orange County, CA | 87 km (54 mi) | S | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Ventura County, CA | 109 km (68 mi) | W | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Kern County, CA | 123 km (76 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Kern County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
33 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.5 6km E of Palmdale, CA
- 2.0 6km NE of Altadena, CA
- 1.7 3km S of Lytle Creek, CA
- 2.7 7km S of Lytle Creek, CA
- 1.8 4km S of Charter Oak, CA
- 2.3 7km WSW of Pinon Hills, CA
- 1.5 7km WSW of Pinon Hills, CA
- 3.0 4km SW of Pinon Hills, CA
- 1.6 5km SSW of Lytle Creek, CA
- 2.2 4km SSW of Lytle Creek, CA
- 2.3 5km SSW of Lytle Creek, CA
- 1.5 2km NNW of Silver Lake, CA
- 1.5 5km NNW of Vincent, CA
- 1.7 1km E of Alhambra, CA
- 1.9 6km NNW of Vincent, 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.