QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Newport Beach, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Newport Beach in the 24 hours to 12:50 pm PST (20:50 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 30 km (19 mi) NW, at 12:44 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Newport Beach

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) south-southwest of Newport Beach, CA, at 1:45 pm PST on 11 March 2023 (21:45 UTC), 13 km deep.

USGS: 3km SSW of Newport Beach, CA

in Newport Beach, CA · 64 km (40 mi) SE of Los Angeles, CA

1:45 pm PST, Mar 11, 2023 · · 13 km deep · released about 13 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Newport Beach Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Orange County 18 kmLos Angeles County 73 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
1:45 pm PST on 11 March 2023 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) south-southwest of Newport Beach, CA · earthquakes near Newport Beach
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Orange County, 18 km ENE
Nearest mapped fault
Newport-Inglewood-Rose Canyon 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 1341 days ago

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 3 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Newport Beach, 3 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: Newport Beach 3 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,200,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 840,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 75× the energy of this one
  4. 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 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 6 km NW of this epicentre
  2. 5.4 5km S of Chino Hills, CA · 42 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.3 7km W of Newport Beach, CA · 6 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 8km ENE of Trabuco Canyon, CA · 41 km ENE of this epicentre
  5. 5.1 The 1941 Torrance-Gardena, California Earthquakes (Second Event) · 37 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 33.5977, -117.9415. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Orange County, CA 18 km (11 mi) ENE earthquakes near Orange County
Los Angeles County, CA 73 km (45 mi) NNW earthquakes near Los Angeles County
San Diego County, CA 126 km (78 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Diego County
Ventura County, CA 139 km (86 mi) NW earthquakes near Ventura County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 5km SSE of Home Gardens, CA
  2. 1.8 4km SW of Compton, CA
  3. 1.5 4km SSE of Home Gardens, CA
  4. 2.8 2km ENE of Walnut Park, CA
  5. 2.7 2km WSW of Bell, CA
  6. 2.3 3km NNE of Buena Park, CA
  7. 3.0 11km WNW of Lake Elsinore, CA
  8. 1.6 4km SE of Home Gardens, CA
  9. 1.5 5 km SSE of Home Gardens, CA
  10. 1.7 2km S of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  11. 1.8 19km ESE of Avalon, CA
  12. 1.6 10km WSW of Corona, CA
  13. 1.8 10km WSW of Corona, CA
  14. 1.5 7km SSE of Home Gardens, CA
  15. 2.1 10km WSW of Corona, 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.