QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Littlerock, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Littlerock in the 24 hours to 3:06 am PST (11:06 UTC). The last one was M 3.8, 73 km (45 mi) W, at 8:00 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 199 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Littlerock

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) south of Littlerock, CA, at 5:43 pm PDT on 29 August 2018 (00:43 UTC), 8.2 km deep.

USGS: 6km S of Littlerock, CA

64 km (40 mi) NE of Los Angeles, CA · 17 km (11 mi) SE of Palmdale, CA

5:43 pm PDT, Aug 29, 2018 · · 8.2 km deep · released about 7.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Littlerock Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Los Angeles County 40 kmOrange County 91 kmVentura County 106 kmKern County 119 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
5:43 pm PDT on 29 August 2018 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) south of Littlerock, CA · earthquakes near Littlerock
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
8.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Los Angeles County, 40 km SW
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, 2 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 2942 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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Littlerock, 5 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: Sun Village, Vincent, Palmdale, Acton, Desert View Highlands, Lake Los Angeles.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.6 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 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.6 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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.4 on 2018-08-29 — about 15,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.6 1971 San Fernando Earthquake, California · 36 km W of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 47 km S of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 10km SSW of Agua Dulce, CA · 36 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 10km SSW of Agua Dulce, CA · 36 km W of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 The 1991 Sierra Madre, California Earthquake · 22 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 34.4717, -117.9827. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Los Angeles County, CA 40 km (25 mi) SW earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Orange County, CA 91 km (56 mi) SSE earthquakes near Orange County
Ventura County, CA 106 km (66 mi) W earthquakes near Ventura County
Kern County, CA 119 km (74 mi) NW earthquakes near Kern County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 8km SW of Lytle Creek, CA
  2. 2.8 2km ESE of Pacoima, CA
  3. 2.1 4km NNE of Granada Hills, CA
  4. 1.9 3km ENE of Granada Hills, CA
  5. 1.9 10km S of Agua Dulce, CA
  6. 2.3 6km SSW of Pearblossum, CA
  7. 1.7 7km NNE of San Dimas, CA
  8. 2.3 7km NNE of San Dimas, CA
  9. 1.5 4km WSW of Lytle Creek, CA
  10. 1.5 4km WNW of Lytle Creek, CA
  11. 2.3 4km SE of San Fernando, CA
  12. 1.6 1km SE of San Fernando, CA
  13. 1.5 4km NNW of La Verne, CA
  14. 1.7 4km N of La Verne, CA
  15. 1.6 3km SSE of San Fernando, 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.