QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.5ml

Earthquake near El Segundo, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in El Segundo in the 24 hours to 10:22 am PST (18:22 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 26 km (16 mi) SE, at 12:44 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near El Segundo

This page: a magnitude 2.5 earthquake was recorded 17 km (10 mi) west-southwest of El Segundo, CA, at 3:50 am PDT on 8 April 2023 (10:50 UTC), 11 km deep. 4 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 17km WSW of El Segundo, CA

22 km (14 mi) SW of Los Angeles, CA · 16 km (10 mi) SSW of Santa Monica, CA

3:50 am PDT, Apr 8, 2023 · · 11 km deep · released about 150 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near El Segundo Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Los Angeles County 46 kmVentura County 72 kmOrange County 79 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
3:50 am PDT on 8 April 2023 ()
Where
17 km (10 mi) west-southwest of El Segundo, CA · earthquakes near El Segundo
Magnitude
M 2.5 (ml)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
4 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Los Angeles County, 46 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
Palos Verdes fault, 7 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 1249 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 19 km (12 mi) from the epicentre. In El Segundo, 17 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: Manhattan Beach 17 km, intensity II · Santa Monica 18 km, intensity II · Redondo Beach 19 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 150 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 99,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 70,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 6.2× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.5 about 150 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 4.3 on 2021-09-18 — about 520 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. 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 37 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 44 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.6 7km NNE of Simi Valley, California · 50 km N of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 15 km NE of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 The 1973 Point Mugu, California Earthquake · 43 km WNW 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 33.8862, -118.5933. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Los Angeles County, CA 46 km (29 mi) NE earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Ventura County, CA 72 km (45 mi) NW earthquakes near Ventura County
Orange County, CA 79 km (49 mi) ESE earthquakes near Orange County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.6 6 km SSW of Malibu Beach, CA
  2. 1.9 3 km W of Topanga, CA
  3. 1.6 4 km NNE of Baldwin Hills, CA
  4. 1.7 11 km WNW of Malibu, CA
  5. 2.7 3 km E of Carson, CA
  6. 2.7 4 km ENE of Inglewood, CA
  7. 1.6 5 km NE of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA
  8. 1.7 6 km E of Moorpark, CA
  9. 2.3 32 km W of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  10. 1.7 14 km SSW of Thousand Oaks, CA
  11. 1.5 10 km W of Malibu, CA
  12. 1.7 4 km ESE of Gardena, CA
  13. 2.1 3 km NNE of Granada Hills, CA
  14. 1.7 1 km ENE of Lennox, CA
  15. 1.6 6km NNE of Chatsworth, 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.