Earthquake near Compton, CA

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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Compton, 2 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: Compton 2 km, intensity II · Willowbrook 5 km, intensity II · Paramount 6 km, intensity II · Lynwood 6 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.9 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 2,500,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,800,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 160× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.9 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 33,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 47 km NW of this epicentre Jan 17, 1994
2. 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 34 km SE of this epicentre Mar 11, 1933
3. 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 24 km NNE of this epicentre Oct 1, 1987
4. 5.8 The 1991 Sierra Madre, California Earthquake · 48 km NNE of this epicentre Jun 28, 1991
5. 5.4 5km S of Chino Hills, CA · 43 km E of this epicentre Jul 29, 2008

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 33.8773, -118.2200. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 1.7 1 km ENE of Lennox, CA 06:31 UTC
2. 1.8 4km SW of Compton, CA 06:50 UTC
3. 1.8 4km SSE of Highland Park, CA 22:43 UTC
4. 2.8 2km ENE of Walnut Park, CA 04:41 UTC
5. 2.7 2km WSW of Bell, CA 04:37 UTC
6. 2.3 3km NNE of Buena Park, CA 05:23 UTC
7. 1.5 1km SSW of Century City, CA 20:03 UTC
8. 1.7 2km S of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 17:41 UTC
9. 1.7 4km NE of Yorba Linda, CA 04:43 UTC
10. 2.2 6km NE of Sierra Madre, CA 00:33 UTC
11. 1.7 2km WNW of Silver Lake, CA 15:40 UTC
12. 1.6 6km SE of Chino Hills, CA 12:23 UTC
13. 1.8 3km SW of Chino Hills, CA 13:23 UTC
14. 2.7 6km SE of Chino Hills, CA 11:42 UTC
15. 1.9 6km NE of Sierra Madre, CA 23:41 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 14:29 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.