QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Laguna Beach, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Laguna Beach in the 24 hours to 4:51 am PST (12:51 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 34 km (21 mi) SSW, at 1:22 pm PDT on 5 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 126 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Laguna Beach

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 24 km (15 mi) southwest of Laguna Beach, CA, at 9:04 pm PDT on 31 August 2020 (04:04 UTC), 3.6 km deep.

USGS: 24km SW of Laguna Beach, CA

79 km (49 mi) SSE of Los Angeles, CA · 23 km (14 mi) SSW of Newport Beach, CA

9:04 pm PDT, Aug 31, 2020 · · 3.6 km deep · released about 10 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Laguna Beach Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Orange County 35 kmLos Angeles County 91 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
9:04 pm PDT on 31 August 2020 ()
Where
24 km (15 mi) southwest of Laguna Beach, CA · earthquakes near Laguna Beach
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
3.6 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Orange County, 35 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault
Palos Verdes fault, 4 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 2263 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 12 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Laguna Beach, 24 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: Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Dana Point, Huntington Beach, Laguna Niguel, Aliso Viejo.

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 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 25 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 The 1986 Oceanside, California Earthquake · 50 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.3 7km W of Newport Beach, CA · 24 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.1 The 1941 Torrance-Gardena, California Earthquakes (Second Event) · 50 km NNW of this epicentre
  5. 5.0 2km ENE of Westminster, CA · 40 km N 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 33.4077, -117.9823. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Orange County, CA 35 km (22 mi) NNE earthquakes near Orange County
Los Angeles County, CA 91 km (57 mi) NNW earthquakes near Los Angeles County
San Diego County, CA 120 km (75 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Diego County
Ventura County, CA 150 km (93 mi) NW earthquakes near Ventura County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 3km ESE of Garden Grove, CA
  2. 1.8 31km E of Avalon, CA
  3. 2.0 1km NNE of Laguna Beach, CA
  4. 2.0 3km SW of San Pedro, CA
  5. 1.8 4km SE of Dana Point, CA
  6. 2.6 17km S of San Pedro, CA
  7. 1.9 25km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  8. 2.1 26km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  9. 3.1 26km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  10. 2.2 22km SSE of San Pedro, CA
  11. 1.9 4km NNW of Orange, CA
  12. 1.8 2km NNE of Villa Park, CA
  13. 1.7 20km SSW of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  14. 1.8 22km SSE of San Pedro, CA
  15. 2.0 32km SW of Dana Point, 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.