QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Hermosa Beach, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Hermosa Beach in the 24 hours to 9:10 am PST (17:10 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 22 km (13 mi) ESE, at 12:44 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Hermosa Beach

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 9 km (5 mi) west-southwest of Hermosa Beach, CA, at 9:47 am PST on 5 December 2018 (17:47 UTC), 14 km deep.

USGS: 9km WSW of Hermosa Beach, CA

22 km (14 mi) SSW of Los Angeles, CA · 8 km (5 mi) WSW of Redondo Beach, CA

9:47 am PST, Dec 5, 2018 · · 14 km deep · released about 7.8 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Hermosa Beach Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Los Angeles County 46 kmOrange County 68 kmVentura County 83 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
9:47 am PST on 5 December 2018 ()
Where
9 km (5 mi) west-southwest of Hermosa Beach, CA · earthquakes near Hermosa Beach
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Los Angeles County, 46 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault
Palos Verdes fault, 5 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 2899 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. In Hermosa Beach, 9 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: Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Palos Verdes Estates, El Segundo, Rolling Hills Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.8 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 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.8 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 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 43 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 46 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 49 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 19 km N of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 1 km SW of Las Flores, California · 26 km NNW 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 33.8327, -118.4883. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Los Angeles County, CA 46 km (28 mi) NNE earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Orange County, CA 68 km (42 mi) ESE earthquakes near Orange County
Ventura County, CA 83 km (52 mi) NW earthquakes near Ventura 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. 1.7 8km NNE of Malibu, CA
  2. 2.0 3km ESE of Northridge, CA
  3. 2.7 3km ESE of Northridge, CA
  4. 1.7 4km SE of San Fernando, CA
  5. 1.6 2km W of Bell Gardens, CA
  6. 1.7 1km NNE of Inglewood, CA
  7. 1.9 2km NNW of Inglewood, CA
  8. 2.0 7km ESE of San Pedro, CA
  9. 2.4 6km WSW of Hermosa Beach, CA
  10. 1.6 2km ESE of Santa Monica, CA
  11. 1.6 2km N of Norwalk, CA
  12. 2.0 3km NE of Marina del Rey, CA
  13. 2.0 3km NE of Marina del Rey, CA
  14. 1.5 2km SSW of Norwalk, CA
  15. 1.6 2km ESE of Northridge, 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.