Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Palmdale, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Palmdale in the 24 hours to 10:20 am PST (18:20 UTC). The last one was M 3.8, 63 km (39 mi) WSW, at 8:00 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 199 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Palmdale
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 23 km (15 mi) southeast of Palmdale, CA, at 7:51 pm PST on 9 January 2025 (03:51 UTC), 8.7 km deep. 5 people have reported feeling it to USGS.
USGS: 6 km S of Pearblossom, CA
66 km (41 mi) NE of Los Angeles, CA · 23 km (15 mi) SE of Palmdale, CA
- When
- 7:51 pm PST on 9 January 2025 ()
- Where
- 23 km (15 mi) southeast of Palmdale, CA · earthquakes near Palmdale
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 8.7 km below the surface
- Felt
- 5 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Nearest
- Los Angeles County, 43 km SW
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas fault, 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 671 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Palmdale, 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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Palmdale, 23 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.
Earthquakes near other towns within 30 km: Littlerock, Sun Village, Vincent, Lake Los Angeles, Piñon Hills, Acton.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.4 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,400,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 6.4 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 31,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 10 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.6 1971 San Fernando Earthquake, California · 42 km W of this epicentre
- 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 46 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.8 10km SSW of Agua Dulce, CA · 42 km W of this epicentre
- 5.8 10km SSW of Agua Dulce, CA · 42 km W of this epicentre
- 5.8 The 1991 Sierra Madre, California Earthquake · 22 km SSW 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 34.4523, -117.9130. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County, CA | 43 km (27 mi) | SW | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Orange County, CA | 87 km (54 mi) | S | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Ventura County, CA | 112 km (70 mi) | W | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Kern County, CA | 124 km (77 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Kern County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
31 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 7 km N of Monrovia, CA
- 1.6 9 km N of La Verne, CA
- 2.1 11 km NNW of Rancho Cucamonga, CA
- 1.8 3 km NNW of Baldwin Park, CA
- 1.7 8 km N of Upland, CA
- 1.7 2 km NNW of Sierra Madre, CA
- 1.6 2 km NNW of Sierra Madre, CA
- 1.6 8 km SW of Lytle Creek, CA
- 2.6 4 km NNW of Lytle Creek, CA
- 1.8 8 km SW of Lytle Creek, CA
- 2.5 5 km SSE of Lytle Creek, CA
- 2.0 2 km NW of Lake View Terrace, CA
- 1.7 3 km NE of Vincent, CA
- 1.7 3 km N of Baldwin Park, CA
- 1.6 7 km ESE of Santa Clarita, 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.