Earthquake near Los Angeles, CA

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 32 km (20 mi) from the epicentre. In Los Angeles, 35 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.

Likely felt in: Santa Clarita 12 km, intensity III · Burbank 20 km, intensity II · Valencia 20 km, intensity II · Glendale 27 km, intensity II · Simi Valley 29 km, intensity II · Agoura 30 km, intensity II · Santa Monica 32 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 680 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.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 22,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 16,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 1.4× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 2.9 about 680 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 290 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 22 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 12 km SSW of this epicentre Jan 17, 1994
2. 6.6 1971 San Fernando Earthquake, California · 15 km NE of this epicentre Feb 9, 1971
3. 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 45 km SE of this epicentre Oct 1, 1987
4. 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 4 km SW of this epicentre Jan 17, 1994
5. 5.8 10km SSW of Agua Dulce, CA · 15 km NE of this epicentre Feb 9, 1971

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 34.3035, -118.4692. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 2.2 6km WNW of Malibu Beach, CA 12:47 UTC
2. 2.6 5km W of Malibu, CA 23:19 UTC
3. 1.6 7km SW of Pearblossom, CA 07:27 UTC
4. 2.2 6km NE of Sierra Madre, CA 00:33 UTC
5. 1.7 2km WNW of Silver Lake, CA 15:40 UTC
6. 1.9 6km NE of Sierra Madre, CA 23:41 UTC
7. 2.6 6km NE of Sierra Madre, CA 22:09 UTC
8. 3.1 6km NE of Sierra Madre, CA 22:08 UTC
9. 1.6 2km SW of Sylmar, CA 22:02 UTC
10. 1.6 6km S of Littlerock, CA 12:55 UTC
11. 1.5 1km NW of Pico Rivera, CA 15:25 UTC
12. 2.2 5km NNW of Sylmar, CA 17:47 UTC
13. 1.7 1km W of Manhattan Beach, CA 23:47 UTC
14. 2.0 10km N of Piru, CA 21:41 UTC
15. 2.2 4km SSE of Malibu Beach, CA 21:13 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 13:25 UTC. 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.