QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

26km SW of Dana Point, CA

· 15 km deep · released about 9 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Orange County 44 kmSan Diego County 106 kmLos Angeles County 108 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
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Orange County, 44 km NNE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 2896 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 9 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 1,700,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 9 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.

Where

Epicentre 33.2852, -117.8723. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Orange County, CA 44 km (28 mi) SSW of here earthquakes near Orange County
San Diego County, CA 106 km (66 mi) WNW of here earthquakes near San Diego County
Los Angeles County, CA 108 km (67 mi) SSE of here earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Ventura County, CA 167 km (104 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Ventura County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 21km SSW of Seal Beach, CA
  2. 1.7 5km ENE of San Joaquin Hills, CA
  3. 1.7 28km SSW of San Clemente, CA
  4. 1.8 6km WSW of Huntington Beach, CA
  5. 1.6 4km E of Newport Beach, CA
  6. 3.0 41km WSW of Camp Pendleton South, CA
  7. 2.2 41km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  8. 1.6 45km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  9. 1.6 40km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  10. 2.5 45km ENE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  11. 1.8 39km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  12. 1.9 9km SW of Newport Beach, CA
  13. 2.1 26km SW of Carlsbad, CA
  14. 2.1 21km NE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  15. 1.8 21km SW of Dana Point, 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.