QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 4.0mw

Earthquake near Ontario, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Ontario in the 24 hours to 12:10 pm PST (20:10 UTC). The last one was M 1.7, 8 km (5 mi) SE, at 2:48 pm PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town. Every earthquake near Ontario

This page: a magnitude 4.0 earthquake was recorded 7 km (4 mi) southeast of Ontario, CA, at 10:34 am PDT on 7 September 2024 (17:34 UTC), 4.8 km deep. 2,758 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 4 km SE of Ontario, CA

in Ontario, CA · 76 km (47 mi) E of Los Angeles, CA

10:34 am PDT, Sep 7, 2024 · · 4.8 km deep · released about 13 tons of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Orange County 43 kmLos Angeles County 65 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
10:34 am PDT on 7 September 2024 ()
Where
7 km (4 mi) southeast of Ontario, CA · earthquakes near Ontario
Magnitude
M 4.0 (mw)
Depth
4.8 km below the surface
Felt
2,758 reports · strongest reported intensity V
Measured shaking
intensity V (ShakeMap)
Tsunami
USGS flagged this event for tsunami evaluation. Follow tsunami.gov for official messages.
Nearest
Orange County, 43 km SSW
Nearest mapped fault
Red Hill-Etiwanda Avenue 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 577 days ago

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 93 km (58 mi) from the epicentre. In Ontario, 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: Ontario 7 km, intensity IV · Eastvale 7 km, intensity IV · Rancho Cucamonga 9 km, intensity IV · Chino 9 km, intensity IV · Upland 10 km, intensity IV · Montclair 11 km, intensity IV · Norco 11 km, intensity IV · Pedley 12 km, intensity IV. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 13 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 5.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 13,000× the energy of this one
  2. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 600× the energy of this one
  3. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 420× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 4.0 about 13 tons of TNT
  5. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 27× 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 7.7 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 14 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.2 3 km SE of San Bernardino, California · 31 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 6.0 The 1910 Lake Elsinore, California Earthquake · 40 km SSE of this epicentre
  3. 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 45 km W of this epicentre
  4. 5.8 The 1991 Sierra Madre, California Earthquake · 46 km NW of this epicentre
  5. 5.5 The 1990 Upland, California Earthquake · 16 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 34.0260, -117.5908. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Orange County, CA 43 km (26 mi) SSW earthquakes near Orange County
Los Angeles County, CA 65 km (40 mi) WNW earthquakes near Los Angeles County
San Diego County, CA 135 km (84 mi) SE earthquakes near San Diego 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.

  1. 1.5 3 km S of Fontana, CA
  2. 1.8 2 km SSE of Fontana, CA
  3. 1.7 2 km S of Fontana, CA
  4. 1.7 2 km NNE of Villa Park, CA
  5. 1.6 6 km NNE of Fontana, CA
  6. 1.6 9 km WSW of Lytle Creek, CA
  7. 1.6 3 km SE of Ontario, CA
  8. 3.5 2 km SE of Ontario, CA
  9. 1.7 4 km SE of Ontario, CA
  10. 1.8 6 km SW of Corona, CA
  11. 3.1 7 km NW of Glen Avon, CA
  12. 1.9 8 km SSE of Home Gardens, CA
  13. 1.5 2 km SSE of Fontana, CA
  14. 2.3 3 km S of Fontana, CA
  15. 1.7 3 km S of Fontana, 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.