Earthquake near Palmdale, 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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Palmdale, 20 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: Littlerock, Sun Village, Vincent, Lake Los Angeles, Acton, Desert View Highlands.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 37 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.1 would have released about 32 times as much.

1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 410,000× the energy of this one
2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 290,000× the energy of this one
3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 26× the energy of this one
4. This earthquake M 2.1 about 37 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 5,200 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

1. 6.6 1971 San Fernando Earthquake, California · 38 km W of this epicentre Feb 9, 1971
2. 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 46 km SSW of this epicentre Oct 1, 1987
3. 5.8 10km SSW of Agua Dulce, CA · 38 km W of this epicentre Feb 9, 1971
4. 5.8 10km SSW of Agua Dulce, CA · 38 km W of this epicentre Feb 9, 1971
5. 5.8 The 1991 Sierra Madre, California Earthquake · 21 km S of this epicentre Jun 28, 1991

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 34.4595, -117.9602. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

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

Aftershocks so far

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

1. 1.7 10 km E of Santa Clarita, CA 21:39 UTC
2. 1.8 4km SSE of Highland Park, CA 22:43 UTC
3. 2.0 1 km S of Sylmar, CA 16:13 UTC
4. 1.5 8 km SE of Wrightwood, CA 14:12 UTC
5. 2.6 8km NNW of Rancho Cucamonga, CA 18:13 UTC
6. 1.9 8km SSE of Wrightwood, CA 06:13 UTC
7. 1.9 7km SW of Pearblossom, CA 23:38 UTC
8. 1.9 7km SW of Pearblossom, CA 18:08 UTC
9. 1.6 7km SW of Pearblossom, CA 07:27 UTC
10. 2.2 6km NE of Sierra Madre, CA 00:33 UTC
11. 1.9 6km NE of Sierra Madre, CA 23:41 UTC
12. 2.6 6km NE of Sierra Madre, CA 22:09 UTC
13. 3.1 6km NE of Sierra Madre, CA 22:08 UTC
14. 1.6 6km SSW of Pearblossom, CA 08:34 UTC
15. 1.6 6km S of Littlerock, CA 12:55 UTC

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of 12:09 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.