QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Manhattan Beach, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Manhattan Beach in the 24 hours to 8:47 am PST (16:47 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 24 km (15 mi) ESE, at 12:44 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Manhattan Beach

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) west-southwest of Manhattan Beach, CA, at 1:46 am PDT on 8 May 2021 (08:46 UTC), 11 km deep.

USGS: 6km WSW of Manhattan Beach, CA

19 km (12 mi) SSW of Los Angeles, CA · 6 km (4 mi) W of Redondo Beach, CA

1:46 am PDT, May 8, 2021 · · 11 km deep · released about 10 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Manhattan Beach Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Los Angeles County 42 kmOrange County 67 kmVentura County 83 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
1:46 am PDT on 8 May 2021 ()
Where
6 km (4 mi) west-southwest of Manhattan Beach, CA · earthquakes near Manhattan Beach
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Los Angeles County, 42 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault
Palos Verdes fault, 2 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 2012 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 5 km (3 mi) from the epicentre. In Manhattan Beach, 6 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: Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, El Segundo, Palos Verdes Estates, Lawndale, Del Aire.

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 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 92× 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

The largest earthquake within 50 km since 2016 was M 4.5 on 2020-09-19 — about 19,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 12 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 40 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 42 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 47 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 16 km N of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 1 km SW of Las Flores, California · 25 km NW 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 33.8572, -118.4668. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Los Angeles County, CA 42 km (26 mi) NNE earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Orange County, CA 67 km (42 mi) ESE earthquakes near Orange County
Ventura County, CA 83 km (52 mi) NW earthquakes near Ventura County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.4 1km NW of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA
  2. 1.8 1km S of Commerce, CA
  3. 1.8 1km SE of Sylmar, CA
  4. 1.5 1km SE of Sylmar, CA
  5. 1.7 8km ESE of San Pedro, CA
  6. 1.6 0km E of Carson, CA
  7. 1.8 2km E of Carson, CA
  8. 1.9 0km S of Carson, CA
  9. 1.5 2km E of Carson, CA
  10. 1.9 7km ESE of San Pedro, CA
  11. 2.6 1km ESE of Carson, CA
  12. 1.6 2km E of Carson, CA
  13. 1.6 12km WNW of Malibu, CA
  14. 2.5 0km ESE of Carson, CA
  15. 2.0 2km SE of Carson, 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.