QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5ml

Earthquake near Avalon, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Avalon in the 24 hours to 8:59 pm PST (04:59 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 2.5 earthquake was recorded 41 km (25 mi) west-southwest of Avalon, CA, at 5:09 am PDT on 30 June 2021 (12:09 UTC), 6.8 km deep. 4 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 18km NW of San Clemente Is. (NW tip), CA

99 km (62 mi) SSW of Los Angeles, CA

5:09 am PDT, Jun 30, 2021 · · 6.8 km deep · released about 180 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Orange County 104 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
5:09 am PDT on 30 June 2021 ()
Where
41 km (25 mi) west-southwest of Avalon, CA · earthquakes near Avalon
Magnitude
M 2.5 (ml)
Depth
6.8 km below the surface
Felt
4 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Orange County, 104 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
San Clemente 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 1890 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 21 km (13 mi) from the epicentre. In Avalon, 41 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 180 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 86,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 61,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 5.4× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 180 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 480 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 11km NNE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA · 47 km SE 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 33.1650, -118.7132. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Orange County, CA 104 km (64 mi) ENE earthquakes near Orange County
Los Angeles County, CA 122 km (76 mi) NNE earthquakes near Los Angeles County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 6 km S of Avalon, CA
  2. 2.6 36 km S of Santa Barbara Is., CA
  3. 3.4 22 km W of San Clemente Is. (NW tip), CA
  4. 1.6 12km SE of Avalon, CA
  5. 2.7 32km S of Santa Barbara Is., CA
  6. 2.3 8km W of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  7. 2.0 17km ESE of Santa Barbara Is., CA
  8. 2.8 24km ESE of Santa Barbara Is., CA
  9. 2.7 35km S of Santa Barbara Is., CA
  10. 2.3 15km NW of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  11. 2.8 17km SSW of Santa Barbara Is., CA
  12. 2.7 14km SSW of San Clemente Is. (NW tip), CA
  13. 2.5 7km W of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  14. 3.1 10km WNW 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.