Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Malibu, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Malibu in the 24 hours to 3:19 am PST (11:19 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 8 km (5 mi) W, at 4:53 am PDT on 16 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Malibu
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 10 km (6 mi) west-northwest of Malibu, CA, at 4:28 am PDT on 6 April 2021 (11:28 UTC), 11 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 8km NW of Malibu, CA
43 km (27 mi) W of Los Angeles, CA · 16 km (10 mi) S of Thousand Oaks, CA
- When
- 4:28 am PDT on 6 April 2021 ()
- Where
- 10 km (6 mi) west-northwest of Malibu, CA · earthquakes near Malibu
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- 2 reports · strongest reported intensity II
- Nearest
- Ventura County, 41 km NW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Malibu Coast 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 2039 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Malibu, 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 7 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Malibu, 10 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Westlake Village, Agoura Hills, Thousand Oaks, Agoura, Oak Park, Camarillo.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 730,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 65× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 3,700 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 36 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 44 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.6 7km NNE of Simi Valley, California · 35 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 36 km E of this epicentre
- 5.3 The 1973 Point Mugu, California Earthquake · 17 km WSW 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 34.0507, -118.8812. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ventura County, CA | 41 km (26 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 59 km (37 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Orange County, CA | 110 km (68 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 119 km (74 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
50 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 15km S of Port Hueneme, CA
- 1.7 7km N of Piru, CA
- 1.6 9km NNW of Piru, CA
- 1.6 10km NNE of Ventura, CA
- 1.6 12km WNW of Malibu, CA
- 2.9 1km NNE of San Fernando, CA
- 3.6 5km NNW of Thousand Oaks, CA
- 2.8 5km SSE of Malibu Beach, CA
- 1.7 2km NNW of Inglewood, CA
- 1.9 1km SSW of Malibu, CA
- 1.7 8km E of Ojai, CA
- 1.7 12km WSW of Ventura, CA
- 1.8 25km SE of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
- 2.0 13km SSE of Malibu Beach, CA
- 1.5 3km SSE of Piru, 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.