Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.0ml
Earthquake near Laguna Beach, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Laguna Beach in the 24 hours to 2:37 pm PST (22:37 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 34 km (21 mi) SSW, at 1:22 pm PDT on 5 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 126 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Laguna Beach
This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded in Laguna Beach, CA, at 8:01 am PDT on 16 April 2021 (15:01 UTC), 14 km deep.
USGS: 1km NNE of Laguna Beach, CA
6 km (3 mi) WSW of Aliso Viejo, CA · 78 km (49 mi) SE of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 8:01 am PDT on 16 April 2021 ()
- Where
- in Laguna Beach, CA · earthquakes near Laguna Beach
- Magnitude
- M 2.0 (ml)
- Depth
- 14 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Orange County, 14 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- Newport-Inglewood-Rose Canyon fault, 3 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 2036 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Laguna Beach, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Laguna Beach, CA. No account or email needed.
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 9 km (6 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: Aliso Viejo 5 km, intensity II · Laguna Niguel 7 km, intensity II · Laguna Hills 9 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 32 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 470,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 330,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 30× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.0 about 32 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 9 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 22 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1910 Lake Elsinore, California Earthquake · 39 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.4 5km S of Chino Hills, CA · 44 km N of this epicentre
- 5.3 7km W of Newport Beach, CA · 22 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.2 8km ENE of Trabuco Canyon, CA · 30 km ENE 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 33.5518, -117.7793. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange County, CA | 14 km (9 mi) | N | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 84 km (52 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| San Diego County, CA | 110 km (68 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near San Diego 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.
- 1.9 16km NNE of Avalon, CA
- 1.7 6km SSE of Home Gardens, CA
- 1.8 2km SE of Home Gardens, CA
- 1.5 2km WSW of Costa Mesa, CA
- 1.8 4km SE of Home Gardens, CA
- 2.1 0km W of Brea, CA
- 1.6 22km SSW of Seal Beach, CA
- 1.7 6km NW of Corona, CA
- 1.7 5km ENE of Villa Park, CA
- 1.8 11km NNE of Trabuco Canyon, CA
- 1.7 8km E of Yorba Linda, CA
- 1.6 4km SE of Home Gardens, CA
- 1.8 4km SE of Home Gardens, CA
- 2.3 11km E of Yorba Linda, CA
- 1.8 4km SE of Home Gardens, 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.