2km S of Buena Park, CA

2018-07-12 20:24 UTC · 19 km deep · released about 700 lb of TNT

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: 2018-07-12 20:24 UTC
Magnitude: M 2.9 (ml)
Depth: 19 km below the surface
Felt: 180 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking: intensity IV (ShakeMap)
Nearest: Orange County, 28 km SE
Status: Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS 2984 days ago · we first saw it 2984 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage. 180 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 700 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 22,000× the energy of this one
Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 15,000× the energy of this one
Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.4× the energy of this one
This earthquake M 2.9 about 700 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

Map loads when it scrolls into view

Epicentre 33.8480, -118.0003. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

Place	Distance	Direction
Orange County, CA	28 km (17 mi)	NW of here	earthquakes near Orange County
Los Angeles County, CA	46 km (28 mi)	SSE of here	earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Ventura County, CA	119 km (74 mi)	ESE of here	earthquakes near Ventura County
San Diego County, CA	146 km (91 mi)	NW of here	earthquakes near San Diego County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1.8 1km WSW of Inglewood, CA 05:18 UTC
1.5 1km NE of Lennox, CA 04:12 UTC
1.9 5km SE of Home Gardens, CA 19:20 UTC
1.9 2km ENE of Studio City, CA 17:14 UTC
1.9 9km ENE of Villa Park, CA 19:06 UTC
1.6 4km SE of Home Gardens, CA 15:50 UTC
1.5 6km SW of Marina del Rey, CA 02:02 UTC
2.4 3km NNW of La Verne, CA 18:02 UTC
2.1 4km N of La Verne, CA 04:26 UTC
1.5 2km SE of Home Gardens, CA 21:04 UTC
1.8 3km S of Huntington Beach, CA 18:31 UTC
1.8 1km W of Manhattan Beach, CA 07:47 UTC
2.4 1km WSW of Manhattan Beach, CA 04:23 UTC
1.8 4km N of La Verne, CA 07:21 UTC
1.5 3km NNW of La Verne, CA 01:33 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 12:52 UTC. 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.