Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.9ml
Earthquake near Fountain Valley, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Fountain Valley in the 24 hours to 12:02 am PST (08:02 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 23 km (14 mi) WNW, at 12:44 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Fountain Valley
This page: a magnitude 1.9 earthquake was recorded 4 km (2 mi) north of Fountain Valley, CA, at 12:54 am PDT on 13 May 2022 (07:54 UTC), 19 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 4km N of Fountain Valley, CA
in Westminster, CA · 52 km (32 mi) SE of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 12:54 am PDT on 13 May 2022 ()
- Where
- 4 km (2 mi) north of Fountain Valley, CA · earthquakes near Fountain Valley
- Magnitude
- M 1.9 (ml)
- Depth
- 19 km below the surface
- Felt
- 1 report · strongest reported intensity II
- Nearest
- Orange County, 18 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Joaquin Hills thrust, 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 1645 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Fountain Valley, CA
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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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Fountain Valley, 4 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: Garden Grove, Westminster, Stanton, Santa Ana, Huntington Beach, Cypress.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 23 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 660,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 470,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 42× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.9 about 23 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 8,500 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 11 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 13 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 37 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.4 5km S of Chino Hills, CA · 29 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.3 7km W of Newport Beach, CA · 13 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.2 8km ENE of Trabuco Canyon, CA · 42 km E 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 33.7407, -117.9610. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange County, CA | 18 km (11 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 58 km (36 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Ventura County, CA | 128 km (80 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| San Diego County, CA | 136 km (84 mi) | SE | earthquakes near San Diego County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
50 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 10km SW of Corona, CA
- 1.8 4km W of Seal Beach, CA
- 1.7 2km SSE of Charter Oak, CA
- 2.5 20km S of San Pedro, CA
- 2.3 16km SSE of San Pedro, CA
- 2.0 10km WSW of Corona, CA
- 1.8 5km SE of Home Gardens, CA
- 1.6 4km SSE of Home Gardens, CA
- 1.8 2km WNW of Glendora, CA
- 1.8 12km N of Foothill Ranch, CA
- 2.1 1km SSE of Long Beach, CA
- 1.6 4km SE of Home Gardens, CA
- 1.6 0km N of Carson, CA
- 1.6 5km SSE of Home Gardens, CA
- 3.5 23km SSW of Newport 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
- 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.