Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.0ml
Earthquake near Dana Point, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Dana Point in the 24 hours to 6:08 am PST (14:08 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 31 km (19 mi) SW, at 1:22 pm PDT on 5 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 126 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Dana Point
This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 30 km (19 mi) southwest of Dana Point, CA, at 6:09 am PDT on 4 September 2021 (13:09 UTC), 13 km deep. 2 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 30km SW of Dana Point, CA
89 km (55 mi) SSE of Los Angeles, CA · 32 km (20 mi) SSW of Newport Beach, CA
- When
- 6:09 am PDT on 4 September 2021 ()
- Where
- 30 km (19 mi) southwest of Dana Point, CA · earthquakes near Dana Point
- Magnitude
- M 2.0 (ml)
- Depth
- 13 km below the surface
- Felt
- 2 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Orange County, 44 km NNE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Palos Verdes 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 1891 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Dana Point, 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, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Dana Point, 30 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 36 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.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 420,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 300,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 27× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.0 about 36 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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 36 km N of this epicentre
- 5.5 The 1986 Oceanside, California Earthquake · 39 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.3 7km W of Newport Beach, CA · 35 km N 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 33.3113, -117.9610. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange County, CA | 44 km (27 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 102 km (64 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| San Diego County, CA | 115 km (71 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Ventura County, CA | 159 km (99 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
46 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 8km SE of San Pedro, CA
- 2.2 22km SSW of Newport Beach, CA
- 2.5 20km S of San Pedro, CA
- 2.3 16km SSE of San Pedro, CA
- 1.9 47km SSW of San Clemente, CA
- 3.5 23km SSW of Newport Beach, CA
- 2.7 23km SSW of Newport Beach, CA
- 2.0 2km ESE of Huntington Beach, CA
- 2.0 6km W of Huntington Beach, CA
- 1.6 49km ENE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
- 2.1 18km N of Avalon, CA
- 1.8 12km WSW of Newport Beach, CA
- 1.6 7km S of Huntington Beach, CA
- 1.7 6km S of Huntington Beach, CA
- 2.4 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
- 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.