Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.0ml
Earthquake near Fountain Valley, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Fountain Valley in the 24 hours to 9:04 pm PST (05:04 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 23 km (14 mi) WNW, at 12:44 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Fountain Valley
This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) east-southeast of Fountain Valley, CA, at 8:25 pm PDT on 27 August 2024 (03:25 UTC), 15 km deep. 4 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 3 km ESE of Fountain Valley, CA
in Fountain Valley, CA · 57 km (36 mi) SE of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 8:25 pm PDT on 27 August 2024 ()
- Where
- 3 km (2 mi) east-southeast of Fountain Valley, CA · earthquakes near Fountain Valley
- Magnitude
- M 2.0 (ml)
- Depth
- 15 km below the surface
- Felt
- 4 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Orange County, 14 km E
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Joaquin Hills thrust, under 1 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 805 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Fountain Valley, CA
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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 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 5 km (3 mi) from the epicentre. In Fountain Valley, 3 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.
Likely felt in: Fountain Valley 3 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 30 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 350,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 32× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.0 about 30 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 6,500 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 10 km SW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1910 Lake Elsinore, California Earthquake · 49 km E of this epicentre
- 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 43 km NNW of this epicentre
- 5.4 5km S of Chino Hills, CA · 32 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.3 7km W of Newport Beach, CA · 11 km SW 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 33.6958, -117.9272. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange County, CA | 14 km (9 mi) | E | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 64 km (40 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| San Diego County, CA | 130 km (81 mi) | SE | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Ventura County, CA | 133 km (83 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
42 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 3.5 2 km SE of Ontario, CA
- 1.7 4 km SE of Ontario, CA
- 1.8 6 km SW of Corona, CA
- 1.9 8 km SSE of Home Gardens, CA
- 2.0 2 km E of Hawthorne, CA
- 1.6 1 km NW of Inglewood, CA
- 1.8 1 km WNW of Lennox, CA
- 2.9 1 km WNW of Lennox, CA
- 1.8 5 km SE of Ontario, CA
- 1.8 5 km SSE of Home Gardens, CA
- 1.5 4 km SE of Ontario, CA
- 1.9 5 km SE of Ontario, CA
- 1.7 3 km SSE of Westminster, CA
- 1.8 3 km ESE of Westminster, 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.