Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 4.4mw
Earthquake near Los Angeles, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Los Angeles in the 24 hours to 1:34 pm PST (21:34 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 30 km (19 mi) S, at 12:44 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Los Angeles
This page: a magnitude 4.4 earthquake was recorded 7 km (4 mi) east-northeast of Los Angeles, CA, at 12:20 pm PDT on 12 August 2024 (19:20 UTC), 11 km deep. 24,250 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 4 km SSE of Highland Park, CA
22 km (14 mi) ENE of Los Angeles, CA · in Alhambra, CA
- When
- 12:20 pm PDT on 12 August 2024 ()
- Where
- 7 km (4 mi) east-northeast of Los Angeles, CA · earthquakes near Los Angeles
- Magnitude
- M 4.4 (mw)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- 24,250 reports · strongest reported intensity V
- Measured shaking
- intensity V (ShakeMap)
- USGS impact alert
- green
- Tsunami
- USGS flagged this event for tsunami evaluation. Follow tsunami.gov for official messages.
- Nearest
- Los Angeles County, 15 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Hollywood fault, 4 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 106 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Los Angeles, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Los Angeles, 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 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 128 km (80 mi) from the epicentre. In Los Angeles, 7 km away, the estimate is intensity IV (light). 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: South Pasadena 5 km, intensity IV · Alhambra 5 km, intensity IV · Monterey Park 6 km, intensity IV · East Los Angeles 7 km, intensity IV · Los Angeles 7 km, intensity IV · San Gabriel 7 km, intensity IV · Pasadena 8 km, intensity IV · Glendale 10 km, intensity IV. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 58 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.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 2,900× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 130× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 92× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 4.4 about 58 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 120× 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 4.5 on 2020-09-19 — about 1.7 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 21 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 36 km WNW of this epicentre
- 6.6 1971 San Fernando Earthquake, California · 41 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 10 km ESE of this epicentre
- 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 36 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.8 10km SSW of Agua Dulce, CA · 41 km NNW 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 34.0825, -118.1788. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County, CA | 15 km (9 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Orange County, CA | 58 km (36 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Ventura County, CA | 93 km (58 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
48 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.8 1 km ENE of Valinda, CA
- 1.6 6 km W of Chatsworth, CA
- 1.6 2 km NNW of Orange, CA
- 1.5 2 km N of Orange, CA
- 1.6 2 km N of Orange, CA
- 1.7 3 km SSE of Highland Park, CA
- 1.7 4 km ESE of Yorba Linda, CA
- 1.7 5 km SSE of Highland Park, CA
- 1.5 3 km WNW of Rossmoor, CA
- 1.6 3 km SSW of Baldwin Hills, CA
- 2.0 5 km S of Highland Park, CA
- 1.7 2 km NNE of Villa Park, CA
- 1.8 2 km SSE of Rolling Hills, CA
- 1.6 4 km SSE of Highland Park, CA
- 2.0 2 km E of Hawthorne, 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.