Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Piru, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Piru in the 24 hours to 2:43 am PST (10:43 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 16 km (10 mi) E, at 8:32 am PDT on 18 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 16 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Piru
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 9 km (6 mi) northeast of Piru, CA, at 5:01 am PDT on 2 May 2020 (12:01 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 9km NE of Piru, CA
60 km (37 mi) NNW of Los Angeles, CA · 23 km (14 mi) WNW of Santa Clarita, CA
- When
- 5:01 am PDT on 2 May 2020 ()
- Where
- 9 km (6 mi) northeast of Piru, CA · earthquakes near Piru
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 0.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Ventura County, 39 km WSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Cayetano fault, 6 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 2385 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Piru, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Piru, 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Piru, 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.
Likely felt in: Piru 9 km, intensity II · Valencia 12 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 4.1 on 2016-03-12 — about 3,100 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 18 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 35 km SSE of this epicentre
- 6.6 1971 San Fernando Earthquake, California · 34 km ESE of this epicentre
- 6.0 Tejon Pass, California · 49 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 32 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.8 10km SSW of Agua Dulce, CA · 34 km ESE 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 34.4827, -118.7353. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ventura County, CA | 39 km (24 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 54 km (33 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Kern County, CA | 96 km (60 mi) | N | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 120 km (74 mi) | W | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Orange County, CA | 126 km (78 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Orange County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
46 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 1km ESE of Sylmar, CA
- 1.7 1km NW of San Fernando, CA
- 1.5 1km SW of Sylmar, CA
- 2.0 0km SSE of Sylmar, CA
- 1.9 1km S of Sylmar, CA
- 1.8 1km NW of San Fernando, CA
- 1.8 1km SSW of Sylmar, CA
- 2.5 1km ESE of Sylmar, CA
- 1.6 1km WNW of San Fernando, CA
- 1.7 0km NNW of San Fernando, CA
- 2.6 1km ESE of Sylmar, CA
- 1.5 1km SW of Sylmar, CA
- 2.7 1km SSE of Sylmar, CA
- 3.7 1km NNE of San Fernando, CA
- 2.1 1km SE of Sylmar, 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.