Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.0ml
Earthquake near Malibu, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Malibu in the 24 hours to 6:21 am PST (14:21 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 2.0 earthquake was recorded 21 km (13 mi) west of Malibu, CA, at 10:59 am PDT on 18 July 2023 (17:59 UTC), 15 km deep.
USGS: 18km W of Malibu, CA
55 km (34 mi) W of Los Angeles, CA · 22 km (14 mi) S of Camarillo, CA
- When
- 10:59 am PDT on 18 July 2023 ()
- Where
- 21 km (13 mi) west of Malibu, CA · earthquakes near Malibu
- Magnitude
- M 2.0 (ml)
- Depth
- 15 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Ventura County, 39 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Malibu Coast fault, 3 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 1213 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Malibu, CA
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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 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Malibu, 21 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: Camarillo, Port Hueneme, Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Agoura Hills, Oxnard.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 33 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 450,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 320,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 29× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.0 about 33 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 2023-01-25 — about 1,700 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 48 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.6 7km NNE of Simi Valley, California · 44 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.5 30 km SW of Channel Islands Beach, California · 46 km W of this epicentre
- 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 47 km E of this epicentre
- 5.3 The 1973 Point Mugu, California Earthquake · 6 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 34.0243, -119.0063. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ventura County, CA | 39 km (24 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 71 km (44 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 111 km (69 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
| Orange County, CA | 120 km (75 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Orange 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.
- 2.7 6 km ESE of Ojai, CA
- 1.8 6 km ESE of Ojai, CA
- 1.7 5 km SE of Ojai, CA
- 3.7 7 km ESE of Ojai, CA
- 2.4 8 km E of Ojai, CA
- 2.4 6 km SE of Ojai, CA
- 2.5 6 km ESE of Ojai, CA
- 1.6 6 km SE of Ojai, CA
- 1.6 5 km ESE of Ojai, CA
- 1.6 5 km SE of Ojai, CA
- 1.6 6 km SE of Ojai, CA
- 1.8 6 km SE of Ojai, CA
- 2.1 5 km SE of Ojai, CA
- 1.9 6 km SE of Ojai, CA
- 2.0 6 km ESE of Ojai, 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.