QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 3.4ml

Earthquake near Huntington Beach, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Huntington Beach in the 24 hours to 4:12 am PST (12:12 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 22 km (14 mi) NW, at 12:44 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Huntington Beach

This page: a magnitude 3.4 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) northeast of Huntington Beach, CA, at 9:52 pm PST on 22 December 2023 (05:52 UTC), 13 km deep. 3,493 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 3 km SE of Huntington Beach, CA

in Huntington Beach, CA · 55 km (34 mi) SE of Los Angeles, CA

9:52 pm PST, Dec 22, 2023 · · 13 km deep · released about 2.1 tons of TNT

Every earthquake near Huntington Beach Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Orange County 19 kmLos Angeles County 63 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
9:52 pm PST on 22 December 2023 ()
Where
3 km (2 mi) northeast of Huntington Beach, CA · earthquakes near Huntington Beach
Magnitude
M 3.4 (ml)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
3,493 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking
intensity IV (ShakeMap)
Nearest
Orange County, 19 km E
Nearest mapped fault
Newport-Inglewood-Rose Canyon 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 577 days ago

This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 58 km (36 mi) from the epicentre. In Huntington Beach, 3 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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: Huntington Beach 3 km, intensity III · Fountain Valley 4 km, intensity III · Costa Mesa 7 km, intensity III · Newport Beach 8 km, intensity III · Westminster 9 km, intensity III · Garden Grove 11 km, intensity III · Santa Ana 12 km, intensity III · Seal Beach 14 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 2.1 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 80,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 3,600× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,500× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 3.4 about 2.1 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 4.4× more

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 46 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. 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 6 km SSW of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 43 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.4 5km S of Chino Hills, CA · 36 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 7km W of Newport Beach, CA · 7 km SSW of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 8km ENE of Trabuco Canyon, CA · 43 km E 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 33.6798, -117.9773. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Orange County, CA 19 km (12 mi) E earthquakes near Orange County
Los Angeles County, CA 63 km (39 mi) NNW earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Ventura County, CA 131 km (81 mi) NW earthquakes near Ventura County
San Diego County, CA 133 km (83 mi) ESE earthquakes near San Diego County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.6 2 km SSE of Long Beach, CA
  2. 1.6 0 km SW of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA
  3. 2.8 0 km SSW of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA
  4. 2.6 2 km SE of Long Beach, CA
  5. 1.9 7 km S of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  6. 1.5 1 km SSW of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA
  7. 2.0 4 km SE of Home Gardens, CA
  8. 1.6 5 km SE of Home Gardens, CA
  9. 1.6 11 km W of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  10. 2.0 9 km W of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  11. 1.8 1 km S of La Mirada, CA
  12. 1.5 2 km NE of East Los Angeles, CA
  13. 1.6 1 km SW of Rosemead, CA
  14. 1.6 5 km ESE of Yorba Linda, CA
  15. 1.6 4 km SE of Home Gardens, 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.