QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9ml

Earthquake near Long Beach, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Long Beach in the 24 hours to 11:51 am PST (19:51 UTC). The last one was M 1.7, 10 km (6 mi) SSW, at 3:16 am PDT on 16 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Long Beach

This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 23 km (14 mi) south of Long Beach, CA, at 8:22 pm PST on 21 January 2019 (04:22 UTC), less than 1 km deep.

USGS: 20km SSE of San Pedro, CA

53 km (33 mi) SSE of Los Angeles, CA · 25 km (15 mi) SSW of Long Beach, CA

8:22 pm PST, Jan 21, 2019 · · -0.2 km deep · released about 25 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Long Beach Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Orange County 44 kmLos Angeles County 70 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
8:22 pm PST on 21 January 2019 ()
Where
23 km (14 mi) south of Long Beach, CA · earthquakes near Long Beach
Magnitude
M 1.9 (ml)
Depth
-0.2 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Orange County, 44 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
Palos Verdes fault, 8 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 2851 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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Long Beach, 23 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: Seal Beach, Rolling Hills, Rancho Palos Verdes, Huntington Beach, Lomita, Avalon.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 25 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 420,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 38× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 25 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 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 23 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 5.3 7km W of Newport Beach, CA · 23 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 The 1941 Torrance-Gardena, California Earthquakes (Second Event) · 25 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.0 2km ENE of Westminster, CA · 32 km NE of this epicentre
  5. 5.0 2 km NE of Carson, California · 32 km N 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 33.5665, -118.2363. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Orange County, CA 44 km (27 mi) ENE earthquakes near Orange County
Los Angeles County, CA 70 km (44 mi) N earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Ventura County, CA 121 km (75 mi) NW earthquakes near Ventura County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 1km WSW of Villa Park, CA
  2. 1.8 5km ESE of San Pedro, CA
  3. 2.0 1km WNW of Redondo Beach, CA
  4. 1.6 2km E of La Habra, CA
  5. 2.6 2km NNE of Gardena, CA
  6. 2.5 13km S of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  7. 1.9 2km SSE of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA
  8. 1.5 0km NNW of Paramount, CA
  9. 1.9 1km N of Huntington Park, CA
  10. 1.8 1km SW of Norwalk, CA
  11. 1.8 1km ENE of Gardena, CA
  12. 1.8 6km WSW of Huntington Beach, CA
  13. 1.6 4km E of Newport Beach, CA
  14. 1.7 1km ENE of Bellflower, CA
  15. 1.9 17km W of Manhattan Beach, 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.