Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.1ml
Earthquake near Huntington Beach, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Huntington Beach in the 24 hours to 1:35 am PST (09:35 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 22 km (14 mi) NW, at 12:44 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Huntington Beach
This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded in Huntington Beach, CA, at 9:51 am PST on 9 March 2018 (17:51 UTC), 13 km deep. 26 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 3km SSE of Huntington Beach, CA
in Huntington Beach, CA · 55 km (34 mi) SE of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 9:51 am PST on 9 March 2018 ()
- Where
- in Huntington Beach, CA · earthquakes near Huntington Beach
- Magnitude
- M 2.1 (ml)
- Depth
- 13 km below the surface
- Felt
- 26 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Orange County, 19 km E
- Nearest mapped fault
- Newport-Inglewood-Rose Canyon fault, 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 3030 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Huntington 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 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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. 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: Huntington Beach in town, intensity II · Fountain Valley 5 km, intensity II · Costa Mesa 7 km, intensity II · Newport Beach 8 km, intensity II · Westminster 10 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 37 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 410,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 290,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 26× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.1 about 37 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:
- 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 5 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 44 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.4 5km S of Chino Hills, CA · 37 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.3 7km W of Newport Beach, CA · 6 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.2 8km ENE of Trabuco Canyon, CA · 44 km E 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 33.6715, -117.9843. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange County, CA | 19 km (12 mi) | E | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 64 km (40 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Ventura County, CA | 131 km (81 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| San Diego County, CA | 133 km (83 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near San Diego County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
50 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 2km E of Foothill Ranch, CA
- 1.8 5km ENE of Coto De Caza, CA
- 1.8 4km WSW of Irvine, CA
- 1.5 24km SW of Dana Point, CA
- 1.8 1km NNW of Rolling Hills Estates, CA
- 1.7 2km SSW of Yorba Linda, CA
- 1.5 1km NE of Pico Rivera, CA
- 2.0 4km E of Lennox, CA
- 1.5 4km WNW of Willowbrook, CA
- 2.7 2km ENE of La Habra, CA
- 2.0 2km S of Newport Beach, CA
- 1.6 1km NNE of Huntington Park, CA
- 1.7 9km SW of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
- 1.9 4km SE of Home Gardens, CA
- 1.6 8km ESE of North Tustin, 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.