QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.8ml

Earthquake near Malibu, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Malibu in the 24 hours to 8:49 am PST (16:49 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 2.8 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) south-southeast of Malibu, CA, at 4:19 pm PST on 25 December 2021 (00:19 UTC), 14 km deep. 19 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 15km SE of Malibu, CA

31 km (19 mi) WSW of Los Angeles, CA · 23 km (15 mi) WSW of Santa Monica, CA

4:19 pm PST, Dec 25, 2021 · · 14 km deep · released about 420 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Malibu Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Los Angeles County 53 kmVentura County 64 kmOrange County 90 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
4:19 pm PST on 25 December 2021 ()
Where
16 km (10 mi) south-southeast of Malibu, CA · earthquakes near Malibu
Magnitude
M 2.8 (ml)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
19 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Los Angeles County, 53 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
San Pedro Basin 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 1713 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 22 km (14 mi) from the epicentre. In Malibu, 16 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: Topanga, Santa Monica, Agoura Hills, El Segundo, Agoura, Manhattan Beach.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 420 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 36,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 26,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 2.3× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.8 about 420 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 190 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 11 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 39 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 47 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.6 7km NNE of Simi Valley, California · 48 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 23 km ENE of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 The 1973 Point Mugu, California Earthquake · 32 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 33.8972, -118.7120. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Los Angeles County, CA 53 km (33 mi) NE earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Ventura County, CA 64 km (40 mi) NW earthquakes near Ventura County
Orange County, CA 90 km (56 mi) ESE earthquakes near Orange County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 0km WSW of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA
  2. 2.5 19km SSE of Port Hueneme, CA
  3. 2.0 19km SSE of Port Hueneme, CA
  4. 1.8 2km NW of Torrance, CA
  5. 1.7 4km SE of Las Flores, CA
  6. 2.3 3km ENE of Marina del Rey, CA
  7. 1.8 5km W of Malibu, CA
  8. 1.8 4km N of Topanga, CA
  9. 2.9 14km SSE of Malibu, CA
  10. 2.1 18km WNW of Malibu, CA
  11. 1.9 11km S of Camarillo, CA
  12. 2.0 9km NNE of Camarillo, CA
  13. 1.8 5km SSE of San Pedro, CA
  14. 1.6 5km SSE of San Pedro, CA
  15. 1.6 17km WNW of Malibu, 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.