Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Orange, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Orange in the 24 hours to 3:02 am PST (11:02 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 31 km (19 mi) W, at 12:44 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Orange
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded in Orange, CA, at 11:28 am PDT on 16 March 2019 (18:28 UTC), 17 km deep.
USGS: 3km SW of Orange, CA
in Orange, CA · 58 km (36 mi) ESE of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 11:28 am PDT on 16 March 2019 ()
- Where
- in Orange, CA · earthquakes near Orange
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 17 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Orange County, 14 km SSE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Joaquin Hills thrust, 10 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 2796 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Orange, CA
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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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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: Santa Ana, Tustin, Villa Park, North Tustin, Garden Grove, Anaheim.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.3 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.3 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 15 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 21 km SW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1910 Lake Elsinore, California Earthquake · 43 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 37 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.5 The 1990 Upland, California Earthquake · 43 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.4 5km S of Chino Hills, CA · 20 km NNE 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 33.7807, -117.8555. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange County, CA | 14 km (9 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 60 km (37 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| San Diego County, CA | 131 km (81 mi) | SE | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Ventura County, CA | 134 km (83 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
49 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 1km N of Caltech, Pasadena, CA
- 1.5 0km NNW of Paramount, CA
- 1.8 4km SE of Home Gardens, CA
- 2.6 6km ENE of North Tustin, CA
- 1.9 1km N of Huntington Park, CA
- 1.8 1km SW of Norwalk, CA
- 1.6 6km ENE of North Tustin, CA
- 1.6 7km NW of Glen Avon, CA
- 1.8 1km ENE of Gardena, CA
- 2.1 4km ENE of Brea, CA
- 1.8 6km WSW of Huntington Beach, CA
- 1.6 4km E of Newport Beach, CA
- 1.6 2km NNW of Valinda, CA
- 1.7 1km ENE of Bellflower, CA
- 1.6 1km NNW of Downey, 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.