Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Compton, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Compton in the 24 hours to 5:54 am PST (13:54 UTC). The last one was M 1.8, 6 km (4 mi) W, at 2:31 pm PDT on 31 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Compton
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) southwest of Compton, CA, at 11:50 pm PDT on 23 July 2023 (06:50 UTC), 14 km deep.
USGS: 4km SW of Compton, CA
22 km (14 mi) SE of Los Angeles, CA · in Carson, CA
- When
- 11:50 pm PDT on 23 July 2023 ()
- Where
- 4 km (3 mi) southwest of Compton, CA · earthquakes near Compton
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 14 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Los Angeles County, 36 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- Newport-Inglewood-Rose Canyon fault, 9 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 1207 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Compton, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Compton, 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 1 km (1 mi) from the epicentre. In Compton, 4 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: West Rancho Dominguez, Carson, Gardena, Willowbrook, West Carson, East Rancho Dominguez.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 15 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 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 730,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 65× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 4.5 on 2020-09-19 — about 13,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 46 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 36 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 27 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 50 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.4 5km S of Chino Hills, CA · 46 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 33.8700, -118.2572. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County, CA | 36 km (23 mi) | N | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Orange County, CA | 49 km (31 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Ventura County, CA | 97 km (60 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
52 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 4 km SE of Placentia, CA
- 2.0 21 km W of Palos Verdes Estates, CA
- 1.6 2 km SSW of San Dimas, CA
- 1.9 2 km S of Orange, CA
- 2.3 4 km SSW of Compton, CA
- 2.0 1 km SSE of Yorba Linda, CA
- 4.1 18 km S of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
- 1.8 12 km S of Malibu Beach, CA
- 2.0 13 km NE of Avalon, CA
- 2.3 3 km ESE of Huntington Beach, CA
- 3.4 3 km SE of Huntington Beach, CA
- 2.0 7 km WSW of Huntington Beach, CA
- 1.9 1 km NNW of Hawthorne, CA
- 1.7 2 km E of Fullerton, CA
- 2.3 2 km E of Fullerton, 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.