QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.6ml

Earthquake near Valencia, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Valencia in the 24 hours to 3:23 am PST (11:23 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 6 km (4 mi) S, at 8:32 am PDT on 18 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 16 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Valencia

This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 30 km (19 mi) northwest of Valencia, CA, at 3:54 am PDT on 5 August 2026 (10:54 UTC), 1.3 km deep.

USGS: 22 km S of Gorman, CA

78 km (48 mi) NNW of Los Angeles, CA · 39 km (24 mi) NNW of Simi Valley, CA

3:54 am PDT, Aug 5, 2026 · · 1.3 km deep · released about 7.8 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Ventura County 36 kmLos Angeles County 73 kmKern County 84 kmSanta Barbara County 106 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
3:54 am PDT on 5 August 2026 ()
Where
30 km (19 mi) northwest of Valencia, CA · earthquakes near Valencia
Magnitude
M 1.6 (ml)
Depth
1.3 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Ventura County, 36 km SW
Nearest mapped fault
Santa Ynez fault, 3 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 99 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 Valencia, 30 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Piru, Fillmore, Frazier Park, Lebec, Castaic, Val Verde.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 7.8 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.8 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 5.1 on 2023-08-20 — about 160,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 22 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 7.5 The 1952 Kern County, California Earthquake · 41 km NNW of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 Tejon Pass, California · 33 km N of this epicentre
  3. 5.8 13km WNW of Grapevine, CA · 45 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.6 7km NNE of Simi Valley, California · 35 km SSE of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 Southwest of Tejon Pass, California · 15 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 34.6028, -118.8802. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Ventura County, CA 36 km (22 mi) SW earthquakes near Ventura County
Los Angeles County, CA 73 km (45 mi) SE earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Kern County, CA 84 km (52 mi) N earthquakes near Kern County
Santa Barbara County, CA 106 km (66 mi) W earthquakes near Santa Barbara County
Orange County, CA 145 km (90 mi) SE earthquakes near Orange 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. 1.1 18 km N of Santa Paula, CA
  2. 1.4 8 km E of Lebec, CA
  3. 1.6 14 km WNW of Grapevine, CA
  4. 1.2 21 km N of Neenach, CA
  5. 1.0 5 km WNW of Sylmar, CA
  6. 1.0 4 km WNW of Frazier Park, CA
  7. 1.6 2 km NW of Sylmar, CA
  8. 0.8 5 km SW of Ojai, CA
  9. 0.9 5 km WSW of Grapevine, CA
  10. 1.1 2 km ENE of Simi Valley, CA
  11. 1.9 9 km NW of Santa Paula, CA
  12. 2.2 9 km SSW of Valencia, CA
  13. 1.4 8 km W of Castaic, CA
  14. 1.1 8 km WSW of Grapevine, CA
  15. 1.3 5 km NNW of West Hills, 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.