Earthquake near Manhattan Beach, CA

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Manhattan Beach, 11 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, El Segundo, Palos Verdes Estates, Del Aire, Lawndale.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.3 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,100,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,500,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 130× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.3 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 11 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 40 km N of this epicentre Jan 17, 1994
2. 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 47 km ENE of this epicentre Oct 1, 1987
3. 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 47 km N of this epicentre Jan 17, 1994
4. 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 17 km N of this epicentre Aug 4, 1927
5. 5.2 1 km SW of Las Flores, California · 23 km NNW of this epicentre Aug 31, 1930

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 33.8493, -118.5255. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 2.0 30km S of Malibu, CA 21:43 UTC
2. 1.5 2km SSE of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA 23:43 UTC
3. 2.0 4km SE of Chatsworth, CA 04:16 UTC
4. 1.8 3km SSE of Chatsworth, CA 02:47 UTC
5. 1.6 3km SSW of Willowbrook, CA 22:22 UTC
6. 2.7 12km W of Manhattan Beach, CA 22:07 UTC
7. 1.6 17km S of Malibu Beach, CA 15:20 UTC
8. 2.2 4km ESE of Gardena, CA 05:14 UTC
9. 1.7 9km WNW of Malibu, CA 05:56 UTC
10. 1.8 15km WNW of Malibu, CA 20:39 UTC
11. 1.5 1km W of Willowbrook, CA 11:10 UTC
12. 1.6 2km SSE of Granada Hills, CA 00:26 UTC
13. 1.7 3km NE of Granada Hills, CA 05:29 UTC
14. 2.4 3km NNE of Granada Hills, CA 14:37 UTC
15. 2.3 5km E of Seal Beach, CA 22:18 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 10:29 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.