Earthquake near Palos Verdes Estates, 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Palos Verdes Estates, 10 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: Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Rancho Palos Verdes, Manhattan Beach, Rolling Hills Estates, Rolling Hills.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 46 km N of this epicentre Jan 17, 1994
2. 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 49 km NE of this epicentre Oct 1, 1987
3. 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 22 km N of this epicentre Aug 4, 1927
4. 5.2 1 km SW of Las Flores, California · 29 km NNW of this epicentre Aug 31, 1930
5. 5.2 13km S of Malibu Beach, CA · 21 km NW of this epicentre Jan 1, 1979

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 33.7990, -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. 1.9 2km ENE of Northridge, CA 01:14 UTC
2. 1.5 0km ESE of Redondo Beach, CA 21:27 UTC
3. 1.5 10km NW of Malibu, CA 05:16 UTC
4. 2.1 1km S of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA 00:17 UTC
5. 2.2 11km SSE of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 15:14 UTC
6. 2.4 10km SSE of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 15:09 UTC
7. 1.5 3km W of Highland Park, CA 09:24 UTC
8. 2.4 8km WSW of Westlake Village, CA 16:26 UTC
9. 2.1 10km SW of Westlake Village, CA 16:09 UTC
10. 1.6 0km S of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA 07:41 UTC
11. 1.6 0km S of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA 11:14 UTC
12. 1.6 1km SE of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA 20:13 UTC
13. 1.6 0km SE of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA 07:13 UTC
14. 3.7 1km S of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA 07:03 UTC
15. 2.1 1km S of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA 16:44 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 12:21 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.