Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Avalon, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Avalon in the 24 hours to 7:30 am PST (15:30 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 1.8 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) north-northeast of Avalon, CA, at 1:53 am PDT on 5 September 2022 (08:53 UTC), 9.1 km deep.
USGS: 19km NNE of Avalon, CA
62 km (38 mi) SSE of Los Angeles, CA · 31 km (19 mi) SW of Huntington Beach, CA
- When
- 1:53 am PDT on 5 September 2022 ()
- Where
- 19 km (12 mi) north-northeast of Avalon, CA · earthquakes near Avalon
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 9.1 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Orange County, 46 km ENE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Pedro Basin fault, 7 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 1527 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Avalon, CA
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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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Avalon, 19 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: Huntington Beach.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 13 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 840,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 75× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 13 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 2021-09-18 — about 6,200 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 5 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 26 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.3 7km W of Newport Beach, CA · 25 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.1 The 1941 Torrance-Gardena, California Earthquakes (Second Event) · 34 km N of this epicentre
- 5.0 2km ENE of Westminster, CA · 38 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.0 2 km NE of Carson, California · 41 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 33.4878, -118.2163. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange County, CA | 46 km (28 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 79 km (49 mi) | N | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Ventura County, CA | 129 km (80 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
36 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.4 20km N of Avalon, CA
- 1.7 1km W of Manhattan Beach, CA
- 1.8 14km NNE of Avalon, CA
- 1.8 3km ESE of Fountain Valley, CA
- 2.1 1km NW of Hermosa Beach, CA
- 1.7 1km NNE of Carson, CA
- 1.8 4km NNW of San Joaquin Hills, CA
- 1.5 2km ENE of Carson, CA
- 1.8 29km SSW of Dana Point, CA
- 1.8 1km WNW of Gardena, CA
- 1.5 2km S of Compton, CA
- 1.8 19km WSW of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
- 2.0 4km SW of Newport Beach, CA
- 1.8 3km SSW of Newport Beach, CA
- 1.8 3km SW 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.