QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0ml

Earthquake near Huntington Beach, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Huntington Beach in the 24 hours to 3:53 am PST (11:53 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 22 km (14 mi) NW, at 12:44 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Huntington Beach

This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 20 km (12 mi) southwest of Huntington Beach, CA, at 9:25 pm PST on 17 January 2022 (05:25 UTC), 2.9 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 22km SW of Huntington Beach, CA

58 km (36 mi) SSE of Los Angeles, CA · 23 km (14 mi) SW of Huntington Beach, CA

9:25 pm PST, Jan 17, 2022 · · 2.9 km deep · released about 29 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Huntington Beach Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Orange County 38 kmLos Angeles County 73 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
9:25 pm PST on 17 January 2022 ()
Where
20 km (12 mi) southwest of Huntington Beach, CA · earthquakes near Huntington Beach
Magnitude
M 2.0 (ml)
Depth
2.9 km below the surface
Felt
1 report
Nearest
Orange County, 38 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
Palos Verdes fault, 4 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 1760 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 16 km (10 mi) from the epicentre. In Huntington Beach, 20 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: Seal Beach, Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Long Beach, Fountain Valley, Avalon.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 29 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 520,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 370,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 33× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 29 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 2,700 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 18 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 5.3 7km W of Newport Beach, CA · 17 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 5.1 The 1941 Torrance-Gardena, California Earthquakes (Second Event) · 29 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.1 2km NW of Brea, CA · 49 km NNE of this epicentre
  5. 5.0 2km ENE of Westminster, CA · 30 km NNE 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 33.5422, -118.1602. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Orange County, CA 38 km (24 mi) ENE earthquakes near Orange County
Los Angeles County, CA 73 km (46 mi) N earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Ventura County, CA 128 km (79 mi) NW earthquakes near Ventura 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. 1.7 5km SE of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  2. 2.3 12km WSW of Manhattan Beach, CA
  3. 2.2 12km WSW of Manhattan Beach, CA
  4. 2.0 2km ESE of Huntington Beach, CA
  5. 1.7 2km E of Carson, CA
  6. 2.0 6km W of Huntington Beach, CA
  7. 1.8 4km ESE of Gardena, CA
  8. 2.5 2km N of Manhattan Beach, CA
  9. 1.9 6km WSW of Hermosa Beach, CA
  10. 2.1 18km N of Avalon, CA
  11. 1.8 12km WSW of Newport Beach, CA
  12. 1.6 7km S of Huntington Beach, CA
  13. 1.7 6km S of Huntington Beach, CA
  14. 2.4 7km S of Huntington Beach, CA
  15. 1.8 7km S of Huntington Beach, 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.