QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Downey, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Downey in the 24 hours to 4:02 am PST (12:02 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 18 km (11 mi) SSW, at 12:44 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Downey

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded in Downey, CA, at 9:31 pm PDT on 1 May 2019 (04:31 UTC), 6.3 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 1km NNW of Downey, CA

27 km (17 mi) ESE of Los Angeles, CA · in Downey, CA

9:31 pm PDT, May 1, 2019 · · 6.3 km deep · released about 8.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Downey Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Los Angeles County 30 kmOrange County 45 kmVentura County 103 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
9:31 pm PDT on 1 May 2019 ()
Where
in Downey, CA · earthquakes near Downey
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
6.3 km below the surface
Felt
2 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Los Angeles County, 30 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
Puente Hills blind thrust system, 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 2751 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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. 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: Downey in town, intensity II · Bell Gardens 3 km, intensity II · Pico Rivera 5 km, intensity II · Bell 6 km, intensity II · Maywood 6 km, intensity II · Paramount 7 km, intensity II · West Whittier-Los Nietos 7 km, intensity II · Norwalk 7 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 8.4 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 1,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× 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 8.4 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 13,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 17 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 47 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 37 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 14 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 49 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 33.9465, -118.1357. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Los Angeles County, CA 30 km (19 mi) NNW earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Orange County, CA 45 km (28 mi) SE earthquakes near Orange County
Ventura County, CA 103 km (64 mi) WNW earthquakes near Ventura County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 21km S of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  2. 1.5 5km SSW of Baldwin Hills, CA
  3. 2.0 7km E of Topanga, CA
  4. 1.8 21km SSW of San Pedro, CA
  5. 2.0 0km WNW of Manhattan Beach, CA
  6. 1.8 0km W of Manhattan Beach, CA
  7. 1.7 21km SSW of Seal Beach, CA
  8. 1.7 5km ENE of San Joaquin Hills, CA
  9. 1.7 1km ESE of Inglewood, CA
  10. 1.6 11km WSW of Manhattan Beach, CA
  11. 1.8 1km ENE of Panorama City, CA
  12. 1.8 4km SW of MacArthur Park, CA
  13. 2.0 1km ESE of Long Beach, CA
  14. 1.7 10km S of San Pedro, CA
  15. 2.0 2km SW of Montebello, 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.