QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Long Beach, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Long Beach in the 24 hours to 4:18 am PST (12:18 UTC). The last one was M 1.7, 10 km (6 mi) SSW, at 3:16 am PDT on 16 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Long Beach

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 22 km (14 mi) south-southwest of Long Beach, CA, at 9:14 pm PDT on 18 May 2024 (04:14 UTC), 1.2 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 16 km S of San Pedro, CA

48 km (30 mi) SSE of Los Angeles, CA · 24 km (15 mi) SSW of Long Beach, CA

9:14 pm PDT, May 18, 2024 · · 1.2 km deep · released about 5.7 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Long Beach Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Orange County 49 kmLos Angeles County 67 kmVentura County 114 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
9:14 pm PDT on 18 May 2024 ()
Where
22 km (14 mi) south-southwest of Long Beach, CA · earthquakes near Long Beach
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
1.2 km below the surface
Felt
1 report
Nearest
Orange County, 49 km E
Nearest mapped fault
Palos Verdes fault, 10 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 903 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 10 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Long Beach, 22 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, Rolling Hills, Lomita, Rolling Hills Estates, Palos Verdes Estates, Seal Beach.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.7 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.7 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 14,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 28 km E of this epicentre
  2. 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 49 km NNW of this epicentre
  3. 5.3 7km W of Newport Beach, CA · 28 km E of this epicentre
  4. 5.1 The 1941 Torrance-Gardena, California Earthquakes (Second Event) · 22 km N of this epicentre
  5. 5.0 2km ENE of Westminster, CA · 35 km ENE 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 33.5945, -118.3027. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Orange County, CA 49 km (31 mi) E earthquakes near Orange County
Los Angeles County, CA 67 km (42 mi) N earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Ventura County, CA 114 km (71 mi) NW earthquakes near Ventura County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 1.8 2 km SSE of Rolling Hills, CA
  2. 2.0 2 km E of Hawthorne, CA
  3. 1.6 1 km NW of Inglewood, CA
  4. 1.8 1 km WNW of Lennox, CA
  5. 2.9 1 km WNW of Lennox, CA
  6. 1.7 3 km SSE of Westminster, CA
  7. 1.8 3 km ESE of Westminster, CA
  8. 2.2 4 km S of Westminster, CA
  9. 2.2 22 km WSW of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  10. 2.2 22 km W of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  11. 3.2 22 km W of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  12. 2.8 22 km W of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  13. 1.8 20 km E of Avalon, CA
  14. 1.9 25 km W of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
  15. 3.1 22 km W of Rancho Palos Verdes, 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.