QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.1ml

Earthquake near Huntington Beach, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Huntington Beach in the 24 hours to 6:34 am PST (14:34 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 2.1 earthquake was recorded in Huntington Beach, CA, at 6:21 pm PDT on 16 May 2022 (01:21 UTC), 15 km deep. 8 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 4km S of Huntington Beach, CA

in Huntington Beach, CA · 55 km (34 mi) SE of Los Angeles, CA

6:21 pm PDT, May 16, 2022 · · 15 km deep · released about 44 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Huntington Beach Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Orange County 21 kmLos Angeles County 65 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
6:21 pm PDT on 16 May 2022 ()
Where
in Huntington Beach, CA · earthquakes near Huntington Beach
Magnitude
M 2.1 (ml)
Depth
15 km below the surface
Felt
8 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Orange County, 21 km E
Nearest mapped fault
Newport-Inglewood-Rose Canyon 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 1640 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. 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: Huntington Beach in town, intensity II · Fountain Valley 7 km, intensity II · Costa Mesa 8 km, intensity II · Newport 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 44 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 340,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 240,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 22× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 44 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 4,400 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 · 3 km S of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 46 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 5km S of Chino Hills, CA · 39 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 7km W of Newport Beach, CA · 4 km S of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 8km ENE of Trabuco Canyon, CA · 46 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 33.6562, -118.0010. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Orange County, CA 21 km (13 mi) E earthquakes near Orange County
Los Angeles County, CA 65 km (40 mi) NNW earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Ventura County, CA 130 km (81 mi) NW earthquakes near Ventura County
San Diego County, CA 134 km (83 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Diego County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 1km SSE of Carson, CA
  2. 2.0 10km SW of Corona, CA
  3. 1.8 4km W of Seal Beach, CA
  4. 2.5 20km S of San Pedro, CA
  5. 2.3 16km SSE of San Pedro, CA
  6. 2.0 10km WSW of Corona, CA
  7. 1.8 12km N of Foothill Ranch, CA
  8. 2.1 1km SSE of Long Beach, CA
  9. 1.6 0km N of Carson, CA
  10. 3.5 23km SSW of Newport Beach, CA
  11. 2.7 23km SSW of Newport Beach, CA
  12. 1.6 3km SSE of Gardena, CA
  13. 2.4 3km S of Gardena, CA
  14. 1.9 1km N of Carson, CA
  15. 2.1 4km E of Lennox, 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.