QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near South Gate, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in South Gate in the 24 hours to 3:43 am PST (11:43 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 19 km (12 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 South Gate

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded in South Gate, CA, at 8:26 pm PDT on 25 July 2021 (03:26 UTC), 13 km deep.

USGS: 1km NNW of South Gate, CA

19 km (12 mi) ESE of Los Angeles, CA · in Huntington Park, CA

8:26 pm PDT, Jul 25, 2021 · · 13 km deep · released about 6.6 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near South Gate Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Los Angeles County 26 kmOrange County 52 kmVentura County 95 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
8:26 pm PDT on 25 July 2021 ()
Where
in South Gate, CA · earthquakes near South Gate
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Los Angeles County, 26 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Puente Hills blind thrust system, 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 1935 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. 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: Walnut Park, Huntington Park, Florence-Graham, Cudahy, Bell, Lynwood.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 6.6 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 2,300,000× 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 6.6 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 30,000 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 · 41 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 42 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 17 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 43 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 The 1991 Sierra Madre, California Earthquake · 40 km NNE 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 33.9623, -118.2163. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Los Angeles County, CA 26 km (16 mi) N earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Orange County, CA 52 km (32 mi) SE earthquakes near Orange County
Ventura County, CA 95 km (59 mi) WNW earthquakes near Ventura County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 2km SE of Carson, CA
  2. 2.3 15km SE of Malibu, CA
  3. 1.9 14km SE of Malibu, CA
  4. 2.8 15km SE of Malibu, CA
  5. 2.5 4km SSE of Charter Oak, CA
  6. 2.3 2km SE of Orange, CA
  7. 1.9 7km ESE of San Pedro, CA
  8. 2.2 10km NNE of Bradbury, CA
  9. 1.6 11km W of Corona, CA
  10. 1.5 1km SW of Rossmoor, CA
  11. 1.6 1km ESE of Baldwin Hills, CA
  12. 1.7 2km E of Carson, CA
  13. 2.3 0km SSE of San Fernando, CA
  14. 1.6 3km WNW of Sylmar, CA
  15. 1.5 2km SSW of San Dimas, 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.