Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.6ml
Earthquake near Palos Verdes Estates, CA
Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Palos Verdes Estates in the last 24 hours. M 2.4, 19 km (12 mi) SE of Palos Verdes Estates, at 6:11 pm PST on 12 November 2026 (02:11 UTC); the estimated shaking in Palos Verdes Estates was intensity II (weak). 16 people have reported feeling it to USGS. Every earthquake near Palos Verdes Estates
This page: a magnitude 3.6 earthquake was recorded 7 km (5 mi) west-northwest of Palos Verdes Estates, CA, at 3:09 pm PDT on 21 July 2024 (22:09 UTC), 12 km deep. 1,233 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 8 km WNW of Palos Verdes Estates, CA
23 km (15 mi) SSW of Los Angeles, CA · 8 km (5 mi) WSW of Redondo Beach, CA
- When
- 3:09 pm PDT on 21 July 2024 ()
- Where
- 7 km (5 mi) west-northwest of Palos Verdes Estates, CA · earthquakes near Palos Verdes Estates
- Magnitude
- M 3.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 12 km below the surface
- Felt
- 1,233 reports · strongest reported intensity IV
- Measured shaking
- intensity IV (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Los Angeles County, 47 km NNE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Palos Verdes fault, 5 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 636 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Palos Verdes Estates, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Palos Verdes Estates, CA. No account or email needed.
Alerts are on for .
Not a warning. An alert comes after USGS publishes a quake, usually minutes after the shaking. For early warning use ShakeAlert, through your phone's Wireless Emergency Alerts or the MyShake app.
This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
At this magnitude and depth, people at rest would likely notice it out to about 66 km (41 mi) from the epicentre. In Palos Verdes Estates, 7 km away, the estimate is intensity III (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.
Likely felt in: Palos Verdes Estates 7 km, intensity III · Redondo Beach 9 km, intensity III · Manhattan Beach 10 km, intensity III · Rancho Palos Verdes 11 km, intensity III · Torrance 12 km, intensity III · Lawndale 14 km, intensity III · Hawthorne 16 km, intensity III · Gardena 17 km, intensity III. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 3.3 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 51,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,300× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,600× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.6 about 3.3 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 6.9× 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 since 2016 was M 4.6 on 2024-02-09 — about 38 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 45 km N of this epicentre
- 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 48 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 45 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 21 km N of this epicentre
- 5.3 7km W of Newport Beach, CA · 48 km ESE 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 33.8143, -118.4710. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County, CA | 47 km (29 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Orange County, CA | 66 km (41 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Ventura County, CA | 86 km (53 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
56 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.3 5 km N of Malibu, CA
- 2.5 5 km N of Malibu, CA
- 2.8 6 km N of Malibu, CA
- 1.8 5 km N of Malibu, CA
- 3.4 7 km N of Malibu, CA
- 1.7 6 km N of Malibu, CA
- 1.8 6 km N of Malibu, CA
- 1.5 5 km N of Malibu, CA
- 2.1 6 km N of Malibu, CA
- 1.7 6 km N of Malibu, CA
- 2.0 5 km N of Malibu, CA
- 2.2 5 km N of Malibu, CA
- 2.5 6 km NNW of Malibu, CA
- 4.7 6 km N of Malibu, CA
- 2.2 4 km S of Westminster, 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
- The official USGS event page — the source of record for every value above
- Did you feel it? Report it to USGS — reports go to USGS, not to us
- ShakeMap for this event, when USGS has produced one
QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.