QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Los Angeles, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Los Angeles in the 24 hours to 4:02 am PST (12:02 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 30 km (19 mi) S, at 12:44 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Los Angeles

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 42 km (26 mi) west of Los Angeles, CA, at 4:15 pm PDT on 16 July 2021 (23:15 UTC), 15 km deep.

USGS: 6km S of Malibu Beach, CA

27 km (17 mi) W of Los Angeles, CA · 19 km (12 mi) W of Santa Monica, CA

4:15 pm PDT, Jul 16, 2021 · · 15 km deep · released about 6.8 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Los Angeles Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Los Angeles County 47 kmVentura County 58 kmOrange County 91 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
4:15 pm PDT on 16 July 2021 ()
Where
42 km (26 mi) west of Los Angeles, CA · earthquakes near Los Angeles
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Los Angeles County, 47 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
Dume fault, 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 1942 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Los Angeles, 42 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.

Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Malibu, Topanga, Agoura, Agoura Hills, Santa Monica, Hidden Hills.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.8 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 140× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.8 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 2020-07-30 — about 7,900 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 17 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 30 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 38 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.6 7km NNE of Simi Valley, California · 38 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 18 km E of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 The 1973 Point Mugu, California Earthquake · 33 km W 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 33.9818, -118.6962. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Los Angeles County, CA 47 km (29 mi) ENE earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Ventura County, CA 58 km (36 mi) NW earthquakes near Ventura County
Orange County, CA 91 km (57 mi) ESE earthquakes near Orange County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.2 3km SE of Carson, CA
  2. 2.0 3km SE of Carson, CA
  3. 2.1 2km SE of Carson, CA
  4. 2.3 15km SE of Malibu, CA
  5. 1.9 14km SE of Malibu, CA
  6. 2.8 15km SE of Malibu, CA
  7. 1.6 1km ESE of Baldwin Hills, CA
  8. 1.7 2km E of Carson, CA
  9. 2.3 0km SSE of San Fernando, CA
  10. 2.2 20km S of Port Hueneme, CA
  11. 1.6 3km WNW of Sylmar, CA
  12. 1.6 1km SE of Sylmar, CA
  13. 1.8 4km WSW of East Los Angeles, CA
  14. 1.6 2km SSE of Chatsworth, CA
  15. 2.5 8km NNW of Malibu, 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.