QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Seal Beach, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Seal Beach in the 24 hours to 6:17 am PST (14:17 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 9 km (6 mi) NW, at 12:44 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Seal Beach

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 4 km (3 mi) west of Seal Beach, CA, at 6:05 am PDT on 19 August 2022 (13:05 UTC), 12 km deep. 7 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 4km W of Seal Beach, CA

in Long Beach, CA · 38 km (24 mi) SE of Los Angeles, CA

6:05 am PDT, Aug 19, 2022 · · 12 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Seal Beach Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Orange County 36 kmLos Angeles County 51 kmVentura County 113 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
6:05 am PDT on 19 August 2022 ()
Where
4 km (3 mi) west of Seal Beach, CA · earthquakes near Seal Beach
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
12 km below the surface
Felt
7 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Orange County, 36 km ESE
Nearest mapped fault
Newport-Inglewood-Rose Canyon fault, 8 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 1546 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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Seal Beach, 4 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: Long Beach 4 km, intensity II · Seal Beach 4 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 15 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 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 730,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 65× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 13,000 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. 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 19 km SE of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 35 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 5km S of Chino Hills, CA · 42 km ENE of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 43 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 7km W of Newport Beach, CA · 20 km SE 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 33.7490, -118.1520. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Orange County, CA 36 km (22 mi) ESE earthquakes near Orange County
Los Angeles County, CA 51 km (32 mi) NNW earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Ventura County, CA 113 km (70 mi) NW earthquakes near Ventura County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 4km SW of Newport Beach, CA
  2. 1.8 3km SSW of Newport Beach, CA
  3. 1.8 3km SW of Newport Beach, CA
  4. 1.6 1km SSE of Carson, CA
  5. 1.8 5km WSW of Huntington Beach, CA
  6. 1.5 2km NNW of Rolling Hills Estates, CA
  7. 2.1 2km NNW of Rolling Hills Estates, CA
  8. 1.8 7km N of Yorba Linda, CA
  9. 1.6 3km SW of Yorba Linda, CA
  10. 1.6 2km ENE of La Habra, CA
  11. 1.7 4km NW of Diamond Bar, CA
  12. 2.1 18km S of San Pedro, CA
  13. 1.8 22km SSW of Newport Beach, CA
  14. 1.9 10km WSW of Corona, CA
  15. 1.5 4km NNW of Diamond Bar, 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.