QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0ml

Earthquake near Palos Verdes Estates, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Palos Verdes Estates in the 24 hours to 1:20 pm PST (21:20 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 19 km (12 mi) E, at 12:44 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Palos Verdes Estates

This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 21 km (13 mi) west of Palos Verdes Estates, CA, at 2:29 am PST on 9 January 2024 (10:29 UTC), 13 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 21 km W of Palos Verdes Estates, CA

33 km (20 mi) SW of Los Angeles, CA · 21 km (13 mi) WSW of Redondo Beach, CA

2:29 am PST, Jan 9, 2024 · · 13 km deep · released about 35 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Palos Verdes Estates Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Los Angeles County 57 kmOrange County 78 kmVentura County 80 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
2:29 am PST on 9 January 2024 ()
Where
21 km (13 mi) west of Palos Verdes Estates, CA · earthquakes near Palos Verdes Estates
Magnitude
M 2.0 (ml)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Los Angeles County, 57 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
San Pedro Basin 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 1037 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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Palos Verdes Estates, 21 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: Rancho Palos Verdes, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, Rolling Hills Estates, Rolling Hills.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 35 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 5.8 440,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 310,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 28× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 35 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 2,300 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 49 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 27 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.3 The 1973 Point Mugu, California Earthquake · 46 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 1 km SW of Las Flores, California · 28 km N of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 13km S of Malibu Beach, CA · 17 km NNW 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 33.7780, -118.6158. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Los Angeles County, CA 57 km (35 mi) NE earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Orange County, CA 78 km (49 mi) E earthquakes near Orange County
Ventura County, CA 80 km (50 mi) NW earthquakes near Ventura County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 22 km WSW of Manhattan Beach, CA
  2. 1.6 13 km SSE of Las Flores, CA
  3. 1.6 3 km ENE of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA
  4. 2.0 11 km SSW of Malibu, CA
  5. 1.9 2 km ENE of El Segundo, CA
  6. 2.2 2 km N of Huntington Park, CA
  7. 2.5 3 km N of Huntington Park, CA
  8. 2.4 12 km WNW of Malibu, CA
  9. 1.7 11 km WNW of Malibu, CA
  10. 2.0 3 km SE of Marina del Rey, CA
  11. 1.6 11 km WNW of Malibu, CA
  12. 1.8 18 km S of San Pedro, CA
  13. 1.5 11 km W of Malibu, CA
  14. 1.6 10 km NW of Malibu, CA
  15. 1.6 11 km NW of Malibu, 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.