Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near Castaic, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Castaic in the 24 hours to 3:56 pm PST (23:56 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 11 km (7 mi) S, at 8:32 am PDT on 18 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 16 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Castaic
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 7 km (4 mi) south-southwest of Castaic, CA, at 5:20 pm PST on 10 February 2018 (01:20 UTC), 7.1 km deep.
USGS: 7km SSW of Castaic, CA
13 km (8 mi) W of Santa Clarita, CA · 51 km (31 mi) NNW of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 5:20 pm PST on 10 February 2018 ()
- Where
- 7 km (4 mi) south-southwest of Castaic, CA · earthquakes near Castaic
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 7.1 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Los Angeles County, 44 km SE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Northridge blind thrust, 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 3187 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Castaic, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Castaic, 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 Castaic, 7 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.
Likely felt in: Valencia 3 km, intensity II · Santa Clarita 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 12 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,300,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 900,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 80× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 12 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 4.1 on 2016-03-12 — about 4,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 18 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 26 km SSE of this epicentre
- 6.6 1971 San Fernando Earthquake, California · 25 km E of this epicentre
- 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 22 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.8 10km SSW of Agua Dulce, CA · 25 km E of this epicentre
- 5.8 10km SSW of Agua Dulce, CA · 25 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 34.4317, -118.6418. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County, CA | 44 km (27 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Ventura County, CA | 46 km (28 mi) | W | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Kern County, CA | 102 km (63 mi) | N | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Orange County, CA | 116 km (72 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Orange County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
39 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 16km ENE of Ojai, CA
- 1.9 3km SE of Piru, CA
- 1.9 2km NE of Simi Valley, CA
- 1.7 4km WNW of Chatsworth, CA
- 1.6 0km ENE of Universal City, CA
- 1.7 11km SW of Westlake Village, CA
- 1.9 3km NE of Chatsworth, CA
- 1.6 3km N of Pacoima, CA
- 1.8 7km WNW of Castaic, CA
- 2.5 9km WNW of Malibu, CA
- 1.9 1km SW of Chatsworth, CA
- 1.7 3km E of Granada Hills, CA
- 2.3 8km SW of Valencia, CA
- 1.7 8km SW of Valencia, CA
- 1.5 5km NNE of Granada Hills, 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.