QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Manhattan Beach, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Manhattan Beach in the 24 hours to 11:46 pm PST (07:46 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 24 km (15 mi) ESE, at 12:44 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Manhattan Beach

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 18 km (11 mi) west-southwest of Manhattan Beach, CA, at 6:46 am PST on 3 March 2017 (14:46 UTC), 2.4 km deep.

USGS: 18km WSW of Manhattan Beach, CA

27 km (17 mi) SW of Los Angeles, CA · 18 km (11 mi) W of Redondo Beach, CA

6:46 am PST, Mar 3, 2017 · · 2.4 km deep · released about 6.8 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Manhattan Beach Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Los Angeles County 51 kmOrange County 77 kmVentura County 78 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
6:46 am PST on 3 March 2017 ()
Where
18 km (11 mi) west-southwest of Manhattan Beach, CA · earthquakes near Manhattan Beach
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
2.4 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Los Angeles County, 51 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
San Pedro Basin fault, 6 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 3467 days ago

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 Manhattan Beach, 18 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: Hermosa Beach, Palos Verdes Estates, Redondo Beach, El Segundo, Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills Estates.

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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,200,000× 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 6.8 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 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 43 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 21 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.3 The 1973 Point Mugu, California Earthquake · 46 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 1 km SW of Las Flores, California · 23 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 13km S of Malibu Beach, CA · 13 km NW 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 33.8253, -118.5907. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Los Angeles County, CA 51 km (32 mi) NE earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Orange County, CA 77 km (48 mi) ESE earthquakes near Orange County
Ventura County, CA 78 km (48 mi) NW earthquakes near Ventura County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 3.6 5km NW of Westwood, CA
  2. 2.0 17km SSE of Malibu, CA
  3. 1.7 15km SW of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  4. 1.5 6km SSE of Malibu, CA
  5. 1.5 2km NW of Lennox, CA
  6. 1.8 17km SSE of Malibu, CA
  7. 1.7 6km SW of Signal Hill, CA
  8. 1.6 6km S of MacArthur Park, CA
  9. 1.6 4km S of Hollywood, CA
  10. 1.8 0km WNW of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA
  11. 2.0 1km SSW of Sherman Oaks, CA
  12. 1.7 0km SSE of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA
  13. 1.7 0km SE of Century City, CA
  14. 1.6 6km ESE of Agoura Hills, CA
  15. 1.7 4km SSE of Encino, 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.