QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Huntington Beach, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Huntington Beach in the 24 hours to 6:42 pm PST (02:42 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 22 km (14 mi) NW, at 12:44 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Huntington Beach

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded in Huntington Beach, CA, at 3:15 am PST on 13 January 2020 (11:15 UTC), 15 km deep.

USGS: 4km S of Huntington Beach, CA

in Huntington Beach, CA · 56 km (35 mi) SE of Los Angeles, CA

3:15 am PST, Jan 13, 2020 · · 15 km deep · released about 10 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Huntington Beach Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Orange County 20 kmLos Angeles County 65 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
3:15 am PST on 13 January 2020 ()
Where
in Huntington Beach, CA · earthquakes near Huntington Beach
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Orange County, 20 km E
Nearest mapped fault
Newport-Inglewood-Rose Canyon fault, under 1 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 2494 days ago

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. 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: Fountain Valley, Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Westminster, Seal Beach, Garden Grove.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 10 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 1,500,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 95× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 10 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. 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 3 km S of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 46 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 5km S of Chino Hills, CA · 39 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 7km W of Newport Beach, CA · 4 km S of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 8km ENE of Trabuco Canyon, CA · 45 km E 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 33.6565, -117.9958. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Orange County, CA 20 km (13 mi) E earthquakes near Orange County
Los Angeles County, CA 65 km (40 mi) NNW earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Ventura County, CA 131 km (81 mi) NW earthquakes near Ventura County
San Diego County, CA 133 km (83 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Diego County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.5 2km S of Home Gardens, CA
  2. 1.9 9km SW of Corona, CA
  3. 2.1 12km SSE of San Pedro, CA
  4. 1.5 9km NE of Trabuco Canyon, CA
  5. 1.5 0km ESE of Redondo Beach, CA
  6. 2.1 1km S of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA
  7. 2.2 11km SSE of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  8. 2.4 10km SSE of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  9. 1.6 0km S of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA
  10. 1.6 0km S of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA
  11. 1.6 1km SE of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA
  12. 1.6 0km SE of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA
  13. 3.7 1km S of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA
  14. 2.1 1km S of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA
  15. 1.6 2km NNE of Laguna Niguel, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.