Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Avalon, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Avalon in the 24 hours to 4:07 pm PST (00:07 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 38 km (23 mi) ESE, at 1:22 pm PDT on 5 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 126 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Avalon
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 47 km (29 mi) southeast of Avalon, CA, at 2:35 am PDT on 24 August 2023 (09:35 UTC), 2.6 km deep.
USGS: 37 km NE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
- When
- 2:35 am PDT on 24 August 2023 ()
- Where
- 47 km (29 mi) southeast of Avalon, CA · earthquakes near Avalon
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 2.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Orange County, 78 km NNE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Diego Trough fault, 11 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 1170 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Avalon, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Avalon, 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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Avalon, 47 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 5.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,600,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.7 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 4.3 on 2019-06-05 — about 15,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 5.8 11km NNE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA · 29 km WSW of this epicentre
- 5.5 The 1986 Oceanside, California Earthquake · 14 km ESE 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 33.0055, -118.0175. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange County, CA | 78 km (48 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Orange County |
| San Diego County, CA | 116 km (72 mi) | E | earthquakes near San Diego 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.
- 1.8 37 km SE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
- 2.5 47 km SSW of Dana Point, CA
- 2.0 41 km WSW of Encinitas, CA
- 1.8 30 km SSW of Dana Point, CA
- 1.8 27 km WNW of La Jolla, CA
- 2.3 26 km SSW of Newport Beach, CA
- 1.8 50 km WSW of Encinitas, CA
- 2.6 27 km WSW of Dana Point, CA
- 2.6 27 km WSW of Dana Point, CA
- 2.8 27 km WSW of Dana Point, CA
- 1.6 42 km WSW of Encinitas, CA
- 2.4 40 km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
- 2.6 6 km SE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
- 1.7 33 km W of La Jolla, CA
- 3.0 25 km SE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), 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.