Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.7ml
Earthquake near Rossmoor, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Rossmoor in the 24 hours to 7:13 am PST (15:13 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 9 km (6 mi) W, at 12:44 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity III (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Rossmoor
This page: a magnitude 1.7 earthquake was recorded 2 km (1 mi) east-southeast of Rossmoor, CA, at 6:23 am PST on 12 January 2025 (14:23 UTC), 10 km deep.
USGS: 2 km ESE of Rossmoor, CA
7 km (4 mi) WNW of Westminster, CA · 42 km (26 mi) SE of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 6:23 am PST on 12 January 2025 ()
- Where
- 2 km (1 mi) east-southeast of Rossmoor, CA · earthquakes near Rossmoor
- Magnitude
- M 1.7 (ml)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Orange County, 29 km ESE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Newport-Inglewood-Rose Canyon fault, 6 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 668 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Rossmoor, 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 Rossmoor, 2 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: Cypress 5 km, intensity II · Westminster 6 km, intensity II · Seal Beach 6 km, intensity II. Estimated for each town centre; each link is that town's own record.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 9.3 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.7 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,600,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,100,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 100× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.7 about 9.3 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 21,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 11 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 17 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 31 km N of this epicentre
- 5.4 5km S of Chino Hills, CA · 33 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 47 km WNW of this epicentre
- 5.3 7km W of Newport Beach, CA · 18 km SSE 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 33.7788, -118.0625. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange County, CA | 29 km (18 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 50 km (31 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Ventura County, CA | 118 km (73 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| San Diego County, CA | 146 km (91 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
47 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.1 6 km WSW of Norco, CA
- 2.2 3 km SSW of Yorba Linda, CA
- 1.6 3 km SSW of Yorba Linda, CA
- 1.7 1 km N of Universal City, CA
- 2.7 7 km SW of Seal Beach, CA
- 1.6 5 km ESE of Yorba Linda, CA
- 1.8 3 km SSE of Cudahy, CA
- 2.0 1 km E of Palos Verdes Estates, CA
- 1.6 1 km NW of Rolling Hills Estates, CA
- 1.6 3 km N of Placentia, CA
- 2.1 5 km ESE of Yorba Linda, CA
- 1.7 2 km N of Universal City, CA
- 1.6 4 km SE of Rowland Heights, CA
- 1.6 2 km NNW of Universal City, CA
- 2.1 1 km N of Manhattan Beach, 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.