Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Valencia, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Valencia in the 24 hours to 5:18 am PST (13:18 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 6 km (4 mi) S, at 8:32 am PDT on 18 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 16 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Valencia
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) south-southwest of Valencia, CA, at 4:53 am PDT on 11 May 2022 (11:53 UTC), 12 km deep.
USGS: 10km SSW of Valencia, CA
13 km (8 mi) WSW of Santa Clarita, CA · 44 km (27 mi) NNW of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 4:53 am PDT on 11 May 2022 ()
- Where
- 8 km (5 mi) south-southwest of Valencia, CA · earthquakes near Valencia
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Los Angeles County, 39 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Northridge blind thrust, 3 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 1646 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Valencia, CA
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Alerts are on for .
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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Valencia, 8 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: Stevenson Ranch, Santa Clarita, Val Verde, Castaic, Piru, Simi Valley.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 8.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,800,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,300,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 8.4 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 4.2 on 2020-07-30 — about 6,500 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 18 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 20 km SSE of this epicentre
- 6.6 1971 San Fernando Earthquake, California · 24 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 17 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.8 10km SSW of Agua Dulce, CA · 24 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.8 10km SSW of Agua Dulce, CA · 24 km ENE 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 34.3730, -118.6287. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County, CA | 39 km (24 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Ventura County, CA | 46 km (29 mi) | W | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Kern County, CA | 109 km (68 mi) | N | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Orange County, CA | 110 km (69 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Orange County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
46 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 10km NNW of Piru, CA
- 1.7 13km NNW of Fillmore, CA
- 1.7 12km N of Piru, CA
- 1.7 12km N of Piru, CA
- 1.5 4km NW of Granada Hills, CA
- 1.8 16km NE of Ojai, CA
- 2.0 12km S of Malibu Beach, CA
- 1.6 3km ESE of Granada Hills, CA
- 1.8 13km SSE of Las Flores, CA
- 1.5 3km SE of Camarillo, CA
- 1.8 3km NE of Silver Lake, CA
- 1.9 15km NE of Ojai, CA
- 1.6 14km WNW of Malibu, CA
- 1.8 3km E of Malibu, CA
- 1.6 6km ESE of Piru, 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.