QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.3ml

Earthquake near Avalon, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Avalon in the 24 hours to 3:41 am PST (11:41 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 38 km (23 mi) ESE, at 1:22 pm PDT on 5 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 126 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Avalon

This page: a magnitude 2.3 earthquake was recorded 44 km (27 mi) southeast of Avalon, CA, at 9:15 pm PDT on 16 May 2022 (04:15 UTC), 13 km deep.

USGS: 36km NE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA

9:15 pm PDT, May 16, 2022 · · 13 km deep · released about 79 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Avalon Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Orange County 76 kmSan Diego County 118 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
9:15 pm PDT on 16 May 2022 ()
Where
44 km (27 mi) southeast of Avalon, CA · earthquakes near Avalon
Magnitude
M 2.3 (ml)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Orange County, 76 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault
San Diego Trough fault, 12 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 14 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Avalon, 44 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 79 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.3 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 190,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 130,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 12× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.3 about 79 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 2019-06-05 — about 1,100 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 2 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 11km NNE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA · 27 km WSW of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 The 1986 Oceanside, California Earthquake · 17 km ESE 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 33.0312, -118.0450. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Orange County, CA 76 km (47 mi) NNE earthquakes near Orange County
San Diego County, CA 118 km (74 mi) E earthquakes near San Diego County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 43 km ENE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  2. 2.0 42 km ENE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  3. 2.6 42 km ENE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  4. 1.8 37 km W of La Jolla, CA
  5. 2.1 42 km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  6. 2.5 31 km ESE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  7. 1.5 32 km W of La Jolla, CA
  8. 1.7 34 km WSW of Encinitas, CA
  9. 2.3 39 km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  10. 2.0 13 km NE of Avalon, CA
  11. 2.0 17 km E of Avalon, CA
  12. 2.1 46 km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  13. 1.6 44 km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
  14. 2.4 31 km SSW of Dana Point, CA
  15. 3.0 46 km ENE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), 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.