QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Bell Gardens, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Bell Gardens in the 24 hours to 6:34 am PST (14:34 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 20 km (12 mi) S, at 12:44 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Bell Gardens

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded in Bell Gardens, CA, at 3:03 am PDT on 25 March 2019 (10:03 UTC), 15 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 2km W of Bell Gardens, CA

23 km (14 mi) ESE of Los Angeles, CA · in South Gate, CA

3:03 am PDT, Mar 25, 2019 · · 15 km deep · released about 9 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Bell Gardens Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Los Angeles County 27 kmOrange County 48 kmVentura County 99 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
3:03 am PDT on 25 March 2019 ()
Where
in Bell Gardens, CA · earthquakes near Bell Gardens
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Los Angeles County, 27 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
Puente Hills blind thrust system, under 1 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 2789 days ago

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: Cudahy, Bell, Maywood, Commerce, South Gate, Downey.

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.

For this area

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.4 on 2018-08-29 — about 12,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 18 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 44 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 40 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 13 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 46 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 The 1991 Sierra Madre, California Earthquake · 38 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 33.9653, -118.1688. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Los Angeles County, CA 27 km (17 mi) NNW earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Orange County, CA 48 km (30 mi) SE earthquakes near Orange County
Ventura County, CA 99 km (61 mi) WNW earthquakes near Ventura County

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

Aftershocks so far

57 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. 2.3 2km NE of Granada Hills, CA
  4. 2.2 3km N of East Los Angeles, CA
  5. 1.6 3 km NNW of Walnut, CA
  6. 2.0 1km WNW of Redondo Beach, CA
  7. 1.6 2km E of La Habra, CA
  8. 1.5 8km ENE of North Tustin, CA
  9. 1.6 1km SSW of San Dimas, CA
  10. 1.7 6km NNW of Pacoima, CA
  11. 1.9 13km NNE of Bradbury, CA
  12. 2.1 14km SSE of Malibu Beach, CA
  13. 2.0 0km ESE of San Fernando, CA
  14. 1.7 6km NNW of Pacoima, CA
  15. 1.8 6km NNW of Pacoima, 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.