QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 4.4mw

40 km S of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA

Yes. A magnitude 4.4 earthquake was recorded 40 km S of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA, at 2:44 am PST on 15 January 2024 (10:44 UTC), 5.9 km deep. 366 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

· 5.9 km deep · released about 67 tons of TNT

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10 km30 km60 km120 km N
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
Magnitude
M 4.4 (mw)
Depth
5.9 km below the surface
Felt
366 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
Measured shaking
intensity III (ShakeMap)
USGS impact alert
green
Tsunami
USGS flagged this event for tsunami evaluation. Follow tsunami.gov for official messages.
Nearest mapped fault
San Clemente fault, 25 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 317 days ago

This was a light earthquake. It is usually felt clearly nearby and can rattle windows and dishes, but damage is uncommon.

At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 133 km (83 mi) from the epicentre. 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.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 67 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.4 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 2,500× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 110× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 80× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 4.4 about 67 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 140× 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 (31 mi) since our catalogue begins in 2016. The previous largest was M 4.3 on 2019-06-05.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists one earthquake of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.2 42km SSW of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA · 28 km W 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 32.4637, -118.2878. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.9 35 km SE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  2. 3.0 126 km SSW of Avalon, California
  3. 2.5 12 km SSE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  4. 2.1 69 km SE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  5. 2.9 10 km WNW of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  6. 2.0 63 km WSW of Coronado, CA
  7. 3.2 72 km SE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  8. 2.6 68 km SE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  9. 2.6 25 km ESE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  10. 1.8 37 km SE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  11. 2.3 55 km SE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  12. 2.6 6 km SE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  13. 3.0 25 km SE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  14. 2.3 6 km SSE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA
  15. 3.0 8 km SSE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), 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.