QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.7ml

Earthquake near Rancho Palos Verdes, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Rancho Palos Verdes in the 24 hours to 8:41 am PST (16:41 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 19 km (12 mi) ENE, at 12:44 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Rancho Palos Verdes

This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, at 10:41 am PDT on 2 July 2023 (17:41 UTC), 13 km deep. 4 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 2km S of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA

12 km (7 mi) SSW of Torrance, CA · 32 km (20 mi) S of Los Angeles, CA

10:41 am PDT, Jul 2, 2023 · · 13 km deep · released about 11 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Rancho Palos Verdes Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Los Angeles County 53 kmOrange County 57 kmVentura County 98 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
10:41 am PDT on 2 July 2023 ()
Where
in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA · earthquakes near Rancho Palos Verdes
Magnitude
M 1.7 (ml)
Depth
13 km below the surface
Felt
4 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Los Angeles County, 53 km NNE
Nearest mapped fault
Palos Verdes fault, 8 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 1222 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. 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: Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, Palos Verdes Estates, Lomita, Torrance, Redondo Beach.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 11 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 89× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.7 about 11 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 4.5 on 2020-09-19 — about 18,000 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. 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 37 km ESE of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 47 km NE of this epicentre
  3. 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 32 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 7km W of Newport Beach, CA · 37 km ESE of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 1 km SW of Las Flores, California · 41 km NW 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 33.7283, -118.3852. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Los Angeles County, CA 53 km (33 mi) NNE earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Orange County, CA 57 km (35 mi) E earthquakes near Orange County
Ventura County, CA 98 km (61 mi) NW earthquakes near Ventura County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.0 13 km NE of Avalon, CA
  2. 2.3 3 km ESE of Huntington Beach, CA
  3. 3.4 3 km SE of Huntington Beach, CA
  4. 2.0 17 km E of Avalon, CA
  5. 2.0 7 km WSW of Huntington Beach, CA
  6. 1.9 1 km NNW of Hawthorne, CA
  7. 1.7 2 km E of Fullerton, CA
  8. 2.3 2 km E of Fullerton, CA
  9. 3.3 2 km E of Fullerton, CA
  10. 2.1 3 km W of Lennox, CA
  11. 1.6 1 km N of Universal City, CA
  12. 2.6 0 km NNW of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA
  13. 1.8 0 km N of View Park-Windsor Hills, CA
  14. 1.6 20 km S of San Pedro, CA
  15. 1.6 22 km SSW of Seal Beach, 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.