Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.6ml
Earthquake near Santa Monica, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Monica in the 24 hours to 1:27 am PST (09:27 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 38 km (24 mi) SE, at 12:44 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Santa Monica
This page: a magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded 2 km (1 mi) east-southeast of Santa Monica, CA, at 5:07 pm PST on 11 January 2019 (01:07 UTC), 10 km deep. 104 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 2km ESE of Santa Monica, CA
6 km (4 mi) W of Los Angeles, CA · in Santa Monica, CA
- When
- 5:07 pm PST on 11 January 2019 ()
- Where
- 2 km (1 mi) east-southeast of Santa Monica, CA · earthquakes near Santa Monica
- Magnitude
- M 2.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- 104 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Los Angeles County, 28 km NE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Santa Monica fault, 4 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 2859 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Santa Monica, 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 21 km (13 mi) from the epicentre. In Santa Monica, 2 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.
Likely felt in: Santa Monica 2 km, intensity III · Inglewood 12 km, intensity II · Manhattan Beach 15 km, intensity II · Hawthorne 15 km, intensity II · Westmont 17 km, intensity II · Lawndale 18 km, intensity II · Redondo Beach 20 km, intensity II · Gardena 20 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 220 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 68,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 48,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 4.3× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.6 about 220 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 23 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 23 km NNW of this epicentre
- 6.6 1971 San Fernando Earthquake, California · 46 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 37 km E of this epicentre
- 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 29 km N of this epicentre
- 5.8 10km SSW of Agua Dulce, CA · 46 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 34.0122, -118.4713. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County, CA | 28 km (17 mi) | NE | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Ventura County, CA | 72 km (45 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Orange County, CA | 74 km (46 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Orange County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
58 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 2km NNW of Valinda, CA
- 1.7 1km ENE of Bellflower, CA
- 1.9 2km SSW of La Canada Flintridge, CA
- 1.9 17km W of Manhattan Beach, CA
- 1.6 1km NNW of Downey, CA
- 1.7 4km WSW of Marina del Rey, CA
- 1.7 3km WNW of Inglewood, CA
- 1.5 1km NE of Westwood, CA
- 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
- 2.0 10km S of Agua Dulce, 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.