QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Malibu, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Malibu in the 24 hours to 5:28 am PST (13:28 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 8 km (5 mi) W, at 4:53 am PDT on 16 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Malibu

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 16 km (10 mi) south-southeast of Malibu, CA, at 8:44 pm PST on 25 January 2023 (04:44 UTC), 17 km deep.

USGS: 15km SE of Malibu, CA

31 km (19 mi) WSW of Los Angeles, CA · 24 km (15 mi) WSW of Santa Monica, CA

8:44 pm PST, Jan 25, 2023 · · 17 km deep · released about 5.4 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Malibu Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Los Angeles County 53 kmVentura County 64 kmOrange County 90 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
8:44 pm PST on 25 January 2023 ()
Where
16 km (10 mi) south-southeast of Malibu, CA · earthquakes near Malibu
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
17 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Los Angeles County, 53 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
San Pedro Basin 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 1386 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Malibu, 16 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: Topanga, Santa Monica, Agoura Hills, Agoura, El Segundo, Manhattan Beach.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,800,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 180× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.4 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 15,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 11 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 39 km NNE of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 47 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.6 7km NNE of Simi Valley, California · 48 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 23 km ENE of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 The 1973 Point Mugu, California Earthquake · 32 km WNW 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 33.8972, -118.7147. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Los Angeles County, CA 53 km (33 mi) NE earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Ventura County, CA 64 km (40 mi) NW earthquakes near Ventura County
Orange County, CA 90 km (56 mi) ESE earthquakes near Orange County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.7 2km S of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  2. 2.0 18km SSW of Malibu, CA
  3. 3.7 21km SSW of Malibu, CA
  4. 1.7 26km S of Malibu, CA
  5. 2.0 13km WNW of Malibu, CA
  6. 1.8 10km WSW of Malibu, CA
  7. 1.5 6km ESE of Moorpark, CA
  8. 2.2 6km WNW of Malibu Beach, CA
  9. 1.7 14km SSE of Port Hueneme, CA
  10. 2.6 5km W of Malibu, CA
  11. 1.7 2km WNW of Silver Lake, CA
  12. 2.5 3km ESE of Carson, CA
  13. 1.6 2km SW of Sylmar, CA
  14. 1.7 22km S of Malibu Beach, CA
  15. 3.6 15km SSE of Port Hueneme, 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.