Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Signal Hill, CA
Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Signal Hill in the last 24 hours. M 2.4, 15 km (9 mi) SSW of Signal Hill, at 6:11 pm PST on 12 November 2026 (02:11 UTC); the estimated shaking in Signal Hill was intensity II (weak). 12 people have reported feeling it to USGS. Every earthquake near Signal Hill
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) north-northwest of Signal Hill, CA, at 5:08 am PST on 28 December 2018 (13:08 UTC), 14 km deep.
USGS: 4km NNW of Signal Hill, CA
29 km (18 mi) SE of Los Angeles, CA · 6 km (4 mi) E of Carson, CA
- When
- 5:08 am PST on 28 December 2018 ()
- Where
- 4 km (3 mi) north-northwest of Signal Hill, CA · earthquakes near Signal Hill
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 14 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Los Angeles County, 40 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- Puente Hills blind thrust system, 8 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 2871 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Signal Hill, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Signal Hill, CA. No account or email needed.
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. In Signal Hill, 4 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: Lakewood, Paramount, East Rancho Dominguez, Compton, Bellflower, Long Beach.
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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 29 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 26 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.4 5km S of Chino Hills, CA · 41 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 34 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.3 7km W of Newport Beach, CA · 30 km SE 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 33.8415, -118.1870. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County, CA | 40 km (25 mi) | N | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Orange County, CA | 42 km (26 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Ventura County, CA | 104 km (65 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
44 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 1km WNW of Century City, CA
- 2.1 0km NNW of Century City, CA
- 1.5 0km NNW of Century City, CA
- 1.6 0km WNW of Century City, CA
- 2.9 0km SSW of Century City, CA
- 1.5 2km WNW of Willowbrook, CA
- 1.8 8km ESE of Yorba Linda, CA
- 2.2 8km ESE of Yorba Linda, CA
- 3.6 8km ESE of Yorba Linda, CA
- 1.9 16km S of San Pedro, CA
- 1.8 3km NNW of Orange, CA
- 1.9 9km SW of Newport Beach, CA
- 1.6 2km W of Bell Gardens, CA
- 1.7 1km NNE of Inglewood, CA
- 1.9 2km NNW of Inglewood, 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.