Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.9ml
Earthquake near Manhattan Beach, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Manhattan Beach in the 24 hours to 10:35 am PST (18:35 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 24 km (15 mi) ESE, at 12:44 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Manhattan Beach
This page: a magnitude 2.9 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) west of Manhattan Beach, CA, at 6:11 am PDT on 4 September 2022 (13:11 UTC), 11 km deep. 318 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 4km W of Manhattan Beach, CA
16 km (10 mi) SSW of Los Angeles, CA · 6 km (4 mi) WNW of Redondo Beach, CA
- When
- 6:11 am PDT on 4 September 2022 ()
- Where
- 4 km (3 mi) west of Manhattan Beach, CA · earthquakes near Manhattan Beach
- Magnitude
- M 2.9 (ml)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- 318 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Measured shaking
- intensity III (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Los Angeles County, 40 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 263 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Manhattan Beach, 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 small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 29 km (18 mi) from the epicentre. In Manhattan Beach, 4 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.
Likely felt in: Manhattan Beach 4 km, intensity III · Redondo Beach 7 km, intensity III · Lawndale 10 km, intensity III · Hawthorne 11 km, intensity III · Palos Verdes Estates 11 km, intensity III · Torrance 12 km, intensity II · Inglewood 13 km, intensity II · Gardena 14 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 630 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.9 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 24,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 17,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.5× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.9 about 630 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 310 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 38 km N of this epicentre
- 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 40 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 44 km N of this epicentre
- 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 14 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.2 1 km SW of Las Flores, California · 24 km NW 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 33.8797, -118.4575. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County, CA | 40 km (25 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Orange County, CA | 67 km (42 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Ventura County, CA | 82 km (51 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.
- 1.8 1km WNW of Gardena, CA
- 1.5 2km S of Compton, CA
- 1.9 1km E of Baldwin Hills, CA
- 1.8 19km WSW of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
- 2.1 17km W of Manhattan Beach, CA
- 1.6 1km SSE of Carson, CA
- 2.0 2km NNE of Sherman Oaks, CA
- 1.8 5km WSW of Huntington Beach, CA
- 1.8 2km ESE of Granada Hills, CA
- 1.5 2km NNW of Rolling Hills Estates, CA
- 2.1 2km NNW of Rolling Hills Estates, CA
- 1.7 13km WNW of Malibu, CA
- 2.0 12km WNW of Malibu, CA
- 1.6 5km W of Chatsworth, CA
- 2.9 2km WSW of Sylmar, 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.