QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.9ml

Earthquake near Long Beach, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Long Beach in the 24 hours to 4:28 am PST (12:28 UTC). The last one was M 1.7, 10 km (6 mi) SSW, at 3:16 am PDT on 16 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Long Beach

This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) south-southwest of Long Beach, CA, at 4:49 am PST on 13 December 2021 (12:49 UTC), 11 km deep. 5 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 7km ESE of San Pedro, CA

10 km (6 mi) SSW of Long Beach, CA · 39 km (24 mi) SSE of Los Angeles, CA

4:49 am PST, Dec 13, 2021 · · 11 km deep · released about 19 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Long Beach Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Orange County 42 kmLos Angeles County 55 kmVentura County 111 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
4:49 am PST on 13 December 2021 ()
Where
8 km (5 mi) south-southwest of Long Beach, CA · earthquakes near Long Beach
Magnitude
M 1.9 (ml)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
5 reports · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Orange County, 42 km E
Nearest mapped fault
Palos Verdes fault, under 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 1794 days ago

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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Long Beach, 8 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: Long Beach 8 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 19 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.9 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 790,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 560,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 50× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.9 about 19 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 10,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 23 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 42 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 41 km NW of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 7km W of Newport Beach, CA · 23 km ESE of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 13km S of Malibu Beach, CA · 49 km WNW 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 33.7055, -118.2257. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Orange County, CA 42 km (26 mi) E earthquakes near Orange County
Los Angeles County, CA 55 km (34 mi) N earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Ventura County, CA 111 km (69 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. 1.8 4km N of Gardena, CA
  2. 2.0 3km ESE of Villa Park, CA
  3. 2.1 21km SSW of San Pedro, CA
  4. 1.5 3km ESE of Carson, CA
  5. 1.5 2km NE of La Habra, CA
  6. 1.6 1km NNE of Hollywood, CA
  7. 1.5 0km SSE of Hollywood, CA
  8. 2.1 0km WSW of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA
  9. 1.8 2km NW of Torrance, CA
  10. 1.9 3km NE of Yorba Linda, CA
  11. 1.7 4km SE of Las Flores, CA
  12. 2.3 3km ENE of Marina del Rey, CA
  13. 2.1 10km SE of San Pedro, CA
  14. 1.8 23km ENE of Avalon, CA
  15. 2.0 17km SSE of San Pedro, 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.