Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.4ml
Earthquake near Manhattan Beach, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Manhattan Beach in the 24 hours to 1:00 pm PST (21:00 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 2.4 earthquake was recorded 6 km (4 mi) west-southwest of Manhattan Beach, CA, at 1:54 pm PST on 27 February 2021 (21:54 UTC), 13 km deep. 17 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
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
- When
- 1:54 pm PST on 27 February 2021 ()
- Where
- 6 km (4 mi) west-southwest of Manhattan Beach, CA · earthquakes near Manhattan Beach
- Magnitude
- M 2.4 (ml)
- Depth
- 13 km below the surface
- Felt
- 17 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Los Angeles County, 42 km NNE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Palos Verdes 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 2081 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Manhattan Beach, CA
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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 17 km (11 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.
Likely felt in: Manhattan Beach 6 km, intensity II · Redondo Beach 7 km, intensity II · Palos Verdes Estates 9 km, intensity II · Lawndale 11 km, intensity II · Torrance 12 km, intensity II · Hawthorne 12 km, intensity II · Rancho Palos Verdes 14 km, intensity II · Gardena 15 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 120 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.4 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 120,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 86,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 7.7× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.4 about 120 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 1,600 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 14 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 40 km N of this epicentre
- 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 50 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 42 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 47 km N of this epicentre
- 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 16 km NNW 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 33.8565, -118.4627. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County, CA | 42 km (26 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Orange County, CA | 66 km (41 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
60 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.1 1km SSW of Inglewood, CA
- 2.3 1km NE of Lennox, CA
- 1.6 2km NW of Lennox, CA
- 1.6 2km WSW of Inglewood, CA
- 2.3 0km ENE of Lennox, CA
- 1.7 0km W of Lennox, CA
- 1.6 1km S of Inglewood, CA
- 1.9 2km E of Lennox, CA
- 1.8 2km ESE of Inglewood, CA
- 1.6 1km ENE of Inglewood, CA
- 2.0 1km SE of Lennox, CA
- 1.9 1km SW of Inglewood, CA
- 1.7 0km NW of Lennox, CA
- 1.6 1km NNE of Lennox, CA
- 1.6 1km SW of Inglewood, 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.