QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Malibu, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Malibu in the 24 hours to 1:44 pm PST (21:44 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 1.8 earthquake was recorded 17 km (11 mi) west of Malibu, CA, at 12:39 pm PST on 14 February 2020 (20:39 UTC), 12 km deep.

USGS: 15km WNW of Malibu, CA

51 km (32 mi) W of Los Angeles, CA · 18 km (11 mi) SSW of Thousand Oaks, CA

12:39 pm PST, Feb 14, 2020 · · 12 km deep · released about 17 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Malibu Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Ventura County 38 kmLos Angeles County 67 kmSanta Barbara County 113 kmOrange County 117 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
12:39 pm PST on 14 February 2020 ()
Where
17 km (11 mi) west of Malibu, CA · earthquakes near Malibu
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Ventura County, 38 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
Malibu Coast 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 2458 days ago

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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Malibu, 17 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: Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Agoura Hills, Camarillo, Agoura, Oak Park.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 17 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 870,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 620,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 55× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 17 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 4.0 on 2020-01-02 — about 1,900 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 17 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 43 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 5.6 7km NNE of Simi Valley, California · 39 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 5.5 30 km SW of Channel Islands Beach, California · 50 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 43 km E of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 The 1973 Point Mugu, California Earthquake · 11 km SW 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 34.0463, -118.9625. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Ventura County, CA 38 km (24 mi) NNW earthquakes near Ventura County
Los Angeles County, CA 67 km (41 mi) ENE earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Santa Barbara County, CA 113 km (70 mi) WNW earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
Orange County, CA 117 km (73 mi) ESE earthquakes near Orange County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 15km SSW of Thousand Oaks, CA
  2. 2.4 4km ENE of Port Hueneme, CA
  3. 2.2 30km SE of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
  4. 1.8 18km S of Camarillo, CA
  5. 1.6 22km SE of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
  6. 1.6 14km WNW of Malibu, CA
  7. 1.7 6km WNW of Oxnard, CA
  8. 2.0 6 km S of Ventura, CA
  9. 1.8 6 km WNW of Oxnard, CA
  10. 2.5 21km SE of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
  11. 2.4 22km SE of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
  12. 2.5 21km SE of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
  13. 2.6 21km SE of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
  14. 1.7 19km NNE of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
  15. 2.0 4km W of Culver City, 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.