QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8ml

Earthquake near Carson, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Carson in the 24 hours to 8:24 am PST (16:24 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 10 km (6 mi) ESE, at 12:44 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Carson

This page: a magnitude 2.8 earthquake was recorded in Carson, CA, at 11:06 pm PDT on 17 September 2021 (06:06 UTC), 11 km deep. 411 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 2km ESE of Carson, CA

25 km (16 mi) SSE of Los Angeles, CA · in Carson, CA

11:06 pm PDT, Sep 17, 2021 · · 11 km deep · released about 460 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Carson Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Los Angeles County 41 kmOrange County 48 kmVentura County 100 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
11:06 pm PDT on 17 September 2021 ()
Where
in Carson, CA · earthquakes near Carson
Magnitude
M 2.8 (ml)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
411 reports · strongest reported intensity V
Measured shaking
intensity III (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Los Angeles County, 41 km N
Nearest mapped fault
Palos Verdes fault, 6 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 1766 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 24 km (15 mi) from the epicentre. 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: Carson in town, intensity III · Torrance 7 km, intensity III · Gardena 8 km, intensity III · Compton 9 km, intensity III · Signal Hill 9 km, intensity III · Long Beach 10 km, intensity III · Willowbrook 10 km, intensity II · Lawndale 11 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 460 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 33,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 23,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.1× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 460 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 420 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 15 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 50 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 33 km SE of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 31 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 5.4 5km S of Chino Hills, CA · 48 km ENE of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 29 km NW 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 33.8262, -118.2640. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Los Angeles County, CA 41 km (26 mi) N earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Orange County, CA 48 km (30 mi) ESE earthquakes near Orange County
Ventura County, CA 100 km (62 mi) NW earthquakes near Ventura County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 1km ENE of Carson, CA
  2. 2.0 22km SW of Huntington Beach, CA
  3. 2.3 3km ESE of Carson, CA
  4. 1.5 2km ESE of Carson, CA
  5. 2.2 11km S of Malibu Beach, CA
  6. 1.9 3km ESE of Carson, CA
  7. 2.5 3km SE of Carson, CA
  8. 1.5 2km SE of Carson, CA
  9. 1.8 4km ESE of Carson, CA
  10. 1.5 0km SE of Carson, CA
  11. 2.8 3km SSE of Carson, CA
  12. 1.8 2km WNW of Marina del Rey, CA
  13. 1.6 2km SE of Carson, CA
  14. 1.8 19km S of San Pedro, CA
  15. 1.7 2km ESE of Carson, 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.