Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.1ml
Earthquake near Avalon, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Avalon in the 24 hours to 7:48 am PST (15:48 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 38 km (23 mi) ESE, at 1:22 pm PDT on 5 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 126 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Avalon
This page: a magnitude 2.1 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) north-northeast of Avalon, CA, at 4:23 am PST on 20 November 2021 (12:23 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 19km NNE of Avalon, CA
59 km (36 mi) SSE of Los Angeles, CA · 32 km (20 mi) SSW of Long Beach, CA
- When
- 4:23 am PST on 20 November 2021 ()
- Where
- 19 km (12 mi) north-northeast of Avalon, CA · earthquakes near Avalon
- Magnitude
- M 2.1 (ml)
- Depth
- 0.6 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Orange County, 49 km ENE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Pedro Basin 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 1816 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Avalon, CA
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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 Avalon, 19 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: Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills, Long Beach, Huntington Beach, Seal Beach.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 37 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 410,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 290,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 26× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.1 about 37 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 4.3 on 2021-09-18 — about 2,100 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 28 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.3 7km W of Newport Beach, CA · 28 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.1 The 1941 Torrance-Gardena, California Earthquakes (Second Event) · 32 km N of this epicentre
- 5.0 2km ENE of Westminster, CA · 39 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.0 2 km NE of Carson, California · 38 km N 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 33.5065, -118.2642. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange County, CA | 49 km (30 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 77 km (48 mi) | N | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Ventura County, CA | 124 km (77 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
46 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.9 4km N of Fountain Valley, CA
- 1.7 5km WNW of Huntington Beach, CA
- 2.3 17km SSE of San Pedro, CA
- 1.6 17km SSE of San Pedro, CA
- 1.5 4km ENE of Hawthorne, CA
- 2.0 4km N of Gardena, CA
- 1.7 4km ESE of Lennox, CA
- 1.7 4km ESE of Lennox, CA
- 1.7 3km N of Gardena, CA
- 1.8 4km N of Gardena, CA
- 2.1 21km SSW of San Pedro, CA
- 1.5 3km ESE of Carson, CA
- 1.8 2km NW of Torrance, CA
- 2.1 10km SE of San Pedro, CA
- 1.8 23km ENE of Avalon, 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.