Earthquake near Santa Monica, CA

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 17 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Santa Monica, 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.

Likely felt in: Santa Monica 4 km, intensity II · Inglewood 17 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 56 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.2 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 270,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 190,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 17× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 2.2 about 56 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:

1. 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 18 km N of this epicentre Jan 17, 1994
2. 6.6 1971 San Fernando Earthquake, California · 43 km NNE of this epicentre Feb 9, 1971
3. 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 39 km E of this epicentre Oct 1, 1987
4. 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 25 km N of this epicentre Jan 17, 1994
5. 5.8 10km SSW of Agua Dulce, CA · 43 km NNE of this epicentre Feb 9, 1971

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 34.0488, -118.5060. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 1.8 8km SSE of Malibu, CA 11:04 UTC
2. 1.6 1km SSW of Sylmar, CA 18:57 UTC
3. 1.5 16km WNW of Malibu, CA 13:22 UTC
4. 2.4 5km WSW of Hermosa Beach, CA 00:57 UTC
5. 2.5 2km ESE of Granada Hills, CA 06:59 UTC
6. 1.6 4km W of South El Monte, CA 08:37 UTC
7. 1.5 3km SW of La Mirada, CA 01:12 UTC
8. 1.9 1km S of Malibu, CA 00:56 UTC
9. 2.3 3km WSW of South El Monte, CA 06:58 UTC
10. 1.6 3km W of South El Monte, CA 14:27 UTC
11. 1.8 3km W of South El Monte, CA 20:48 UTC
12. 1.6 3km W of South El Monte, CA 14:13 UTC
13. 2.1 3km WSW of South El Monte, CA 08:03 UTC
14. 1.6 3km WSW of South El Monte, CA 06:50 UTC
15. 1.9 4km W of South El Monte, CA 06:45 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 20:07 UTC. 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.