Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Malibu, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Malibu in the 24 hours to 1:28 pm PST (21:28 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 2 km (2 mi) northeast of Malibu, CA, at 5:23 pm PST on 31 December 2020 (01:23 UTC), 10 km deep.
USGS: 6km NE of Malibu, CA
32 km (20 mi) W of Los Angeles, CA · 20 km (12 mi) SSE of Thousand Oaks, CA
- When
- 5:23 pm PST on 31 December 2020 ()
- Where
- 2 km (2 mi) northeast of Malibu, CA · earthquakes near Malibu
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Los Angeles County, 49 km ENE
- 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 2135 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Malibu, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Malibu, CA. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
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, 2 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: Agoura Hills, Agoura, Westlake Village, Oak Park, Topanga, Thousand Oaks.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 14 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 790,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 70× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 14 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 4.2 on 2020-07-30 — about 4,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 15 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 28 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 36 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.6 7km NNE of Simi Valley, California · 32 km N of this epicentre
- 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 24 km E of this epicentre
- 5.3 The 1973 Point Mugu, California Earthquake · 28 km WSW 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 34.0395, -118.7598. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County, CA | 49 km (30 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Ventura County, CA | 49 km (31 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Orange County, CA | 99 km (62 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 130 km (81 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
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.
- 2.0 1km E of Lennox, CA
- 1.8 1km NNE of Lennox, CA
- 1.5 1km NW of Inglewood, CA
- 1.6 1km WSW of Inglewood, CA
- 2.3 1km ENE of Lennox, CA
- 1.8 1km S of Inglewood, CA
- 1.6 2km ENE of Lennox, CA
- 2.4 1km SSE of Inglewood, CA
- 2.3 2km E of Lennox, CA
- 1.9 1km SSE of Inglewood, CA
- 1.5 1km SE of Inglewood, CA
- 1.6 1km ESE of Inglewood, CA
- 1.7 1km WSW of Inglewood, CA
- 1.6 1km W of Inglewood, CA
- 1.6 1km SW of Inglewood, 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
- 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.