QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Malibu, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Malibu in the 24 hours to 10:26 am PST (18:26 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 8 km (5 mi) W, at 4:53 am PDT on 16 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Malibu

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 11 km (7 mi) west-northwest of Malibu, CA, at 4:44 am PDT on 21 April 2025 (11:44 UTC), 11 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 10 km NW of Malibu, CA

15 km (9 mi) S of Thousand Oaks, CA · 45 km (28 mi) W of Los Angeles, CA

4:44 am PDT, Apr 21, 2025 · · 11 km deep · released about 5.7 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Malibu Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Ventura County 40 kmLos Angeles County 60 kmOrange County 112 kmSanta Barbara County 117 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
4:44 am PDT on 21 April 2025 ()
Where
11 km (7 mi) west-northwest of Malibu, CA · earthquakes near Malibu
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
11 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity II
Nearest
Ventura County, 40 km NNW
Nearest mapped fault
Malibu Coast fault, 2 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 567 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage.

At this magnitude and depth it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Malibu, 11 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: Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, Agoura Hills, Agoura, Oak Park, Camarillo.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.7 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.7 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 5.1 on 2023-08-20 — about 220,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 37 km ENE of this epicentre
  2. 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 44 km ENE of this epicentre
  3. 5.6 7km NNE of Simi Valley, California · 35 km NNE of this epicentre
  4. 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 37 km E of this epicentre
  5. 5.3 The 1973 Point Mugu, California Earthquake · 17 km WSW 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 34.0620, -118.8970. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Ventura County, CA 40 km (25 mi) NNW earthquakes near Ventura County
Los Angeles County, CA 60 km (37 mi) ENE earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Orange County, CA 112 km (70 mi) ESE earthquakes near Orange County
Santa Barbara County, CA 117 km (73 mi) WNW earthquakes near Santa Barbara County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

43 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 1.8 9 km NW of Santa Paula, CA
  2. 2.6 6 km NNW of Santa Paula, CA
  3. 1.7 3 km SSE of Malibu, CA
  4. 1.8 7 km N of Santa Paula, CA
  5. 3.2 6 km N of Santa Paula, CA
  6. 1.8 17 km WSW of El Segundo, CA
  7. 2.0 8 km WNW of Fillmore, CA
  8. 1.6 5 km SSE of Malibu, CA
  9. 1.5 5 km SSW of Malibu Beach, CA
  10. 2.2 18 km SSE of Malibu, CA
  11. 1.7 11 km NW of Fillmore, CA
  12. 1.8 1 km W of San Fernando, CA
  13. 1.9 12 km W of El Segundo, CA
  14. 1.8 4 km S of Encino, CA
  15. 2.4 7 km NNE of Simi Valley, 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.