Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.1ml
Earthquake near Malibu, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Malibu in the 24 hours to 6:16 am PST (14:16 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 8 km (5 mi) W, at 4:53 am PDT on 16 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Malibu
This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) southwest of Malibu, CA, at 8:42 am PDT on 18 September 2020 (15:42 UTC), 4.3 km deep.
USGS: 2km S of Malibu, CA
37 km (23 mi) W of Los Angeles, CA · 23 km (15 mi) SSE of Thousand Oaks, CA
- When
- 8:42 am PDT on 18 September 2020 ()
- Where
- 5 km (3 mi) southwest of Malibu, CA · earthquakes near Malibu
- Magnitude
- M 2.1 (ml)
- Depth
- 4.3 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Ventura County, 51 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Dume fault, 2 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 2243 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Malibu, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Malibu, 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 17 km (11 mi) from the epicentre. In Malibu, 5 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: Agoura Hills, Westlake Village, Agoura, Thousand Oaks, Oak Park, Topanga.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 49 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 310,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 220,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 19× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.1 about 49 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 4.2 on 2020-07-30 — about 1,100 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 35 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 43 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.6 7km NNE of Simi Valley, California · 39 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 29 km E of this epicentre
- 5.3 The 1973 Point Mugu, California Earthquake · 22 km W 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 33.9898, -118.8108. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ventura County, CA | 51 km (31 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 56 km (35 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Orange County, CA | 102 km (63 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 128 km (80 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
43 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 7km WSW of Malibu, CA
- 1.7 5km WSW of Hermosa Beach, CA
- 2.4 6km WSW of Manhattan Beach, CA
- 3.0 3km E of Simi Valley, CA
- 1.8 2km SSW of Sylmar, CA
- 1.5 19km S of Malibu Beach, CA
- 1.9 5km NNW of Chatsworth, CA
- 1.8 15km WNW of Malibu, CA
- 1.8 1km ESE of Malibu, CA
- 2.2 2km NE of Malibu, CA
- 1.5 19km S of Las Flores, CA
- 2.2 6km NE of Chatsworth, CA
- 1.9 3km SSE of Malibu, CA
- 1.8 1km ENE of Baldwin Hills, CA
- 1.8 6km NE of Malibu, 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.