QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0ml

Earthquake near Malibu, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Malibu in the 24 hours to 3:24 pm PST (23:24 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 8 km (5 mi) W, at 4:53 am PDT on 16 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Malibu

This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 14 km (9 mi) west-northwest of Malibu, CA, at 7:38 pm PST on 7 February 2023 (03:38 UTC), 2.7 km deep. 3 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 12km WNW of Malibu, CA

48 km (30 mi) W of Los Angeles, CA · 17 km (10 mi) SSW of Thousand Oaks, CA

7:38 pm PST, Feb 7, 2023 · · 2.7 km deep · released about 27 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Malibu Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Ventura County 39 kmLos Angeles County 64 kmOrange County 114 kmSanta Barbara County 115 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
7:38 pm PST on 7 February 2023 ()
Where
14 km (9 mi) west-northwest of Malibu, CA · earthquakes near Malibu
Magnitude
M 2.0 (ml)
Depth
2.7 km below the surface
Felt
3 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Nearest
Ventura County, 39 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
Malibu Coast 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 1373 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 15 km (9 mi) from the epicentre. In Malibu, 14 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: Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, Agoura Hills, Agoura, Camarillo, Oak Park.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 27 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 560,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 390,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 35× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 27 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 2023-01-25 — about 2,100 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 · 40 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 47 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 5.6 7km NNE of Simi Valley, California · 37 km NE of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 40 km E of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 The 1973 Point Mugu, California Earthquake · 14 km SW 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 34.0515, -118.9312. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Ventura County, CA 39 km (24 mi) NNW earthquakes near Ventura County
Los Angeles County, CA 64 km (40 mi) ENE earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Orange County, CA 114 km (71 mi) ESE earthquakes near Orange County
Santa Barbara County, CA 115 km (72 mi) WNW earthquakes near Santa Barbara County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.1 3 km NNE of Granada Hills, CA
  2. 2.7 27 km SSW of Port Hueneme, CA
  3. 1.6 6km NNE of Chatsworth, CA
  4. 2.0 18km W of Malibu, CA
  5. 1.5 1km SSW of Century City, CA
  6. 1.6 10km WSW of Ventura, CA
  7. 1.6 8km N of Chatsworth, CA
  8. 2.6 17km SE of Santa Cruz Is. (E end), CA
  9. 1.8 31km NE of Santa Barbara Is., CA
  10. 2.0 18km SSW of Malibu, CA
  11. 3.7 21km SSW of Malibu, CA
  12. 1.7 26km S of Malibu, CA
  13. 2.0 13km WNW of Malibu, CA
  14. 1.8 10km WSW of Malibu, CA
  15. 1.5 6km ESE of Moorpark, 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.