QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

Earthquake near Castaic, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Castaic in the 24 hours to 4:08 am PST (12:08 UTC). The last one was M 2.2, 11 km (7 mi) S, at 8:32 am PDT on 18 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 16 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Castaic

This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 8 km (5 mi) northwest of Castaic, CA, at 12:08 pm PST on 20 November 2025 (20:08 UTC), 14 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 8 km NW of Castaic, CA

63 km (39 mi) NNW of Los Angeles, CA · 21 km (13 mi) NW of Santa Clarita, CA

12:08 pm PST, Nov 20, 2025 · · 14 km deep · released about 13 lb of TNT

10 km30 km60 km120 km N Ventura County 47 kmLos Angeles County 54 kmKern County 90 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
12:08 pm PST on 20 November 2025 ()
Where
8 km (5 mi) northwest of Castaic, CA · earthquakes near Castaic
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
14 km below the surface
Felt
1 report
Nearest
Ventura County, 47 km WSW
Nearest mapped fault
San Gabriel 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 357 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 Castaic, 8 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: Val Verde, Valencia, Piru, Stevenson Ranch, Santa Clarita, Fillmore.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 13 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,100,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 810,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 72× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 13 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 95,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 19 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 39 km SSE of this epicentre
  2. 6.6 1971 San Fernando Earthquake, California · 31 km ESE of this epicentre
  3. 6.0 Tejon Pass, California · 45 km NNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 34 km SSE of this epicentre
  5. 5.8 10km SSW of Agua Dulce, CA · 31 km ESE 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 34.5427, -118.6757. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Ventura County, CA 47 km (29 mi) WSW earthquakes near Ventura County
Los Angeles County, CA 54 km (34 mi) SE earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Kern County, CA 90 km (56 mi) N earthquakes near Kern County
Orange County, CA 127 km (79 mi) SE earthquakes near Orange County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.8 10 km SSW of Valencia, CA
  2. 2.5 10 km SSW of Valencia, CA
  3. 1.7 10 km SSW of Valencia, CA
  4. 2.2 10 km SSW of Valencia, CA
  5. 2.2 11 km NNW of Piru, CA
  6. 1.7 14 km S of Frazier Park, CA
  7. 1.8 5 km NW of Frazier Park, CA
  8. 2.2 18 km NNW of Fillmore, CA
  9. 2.0 23 km SSW of Frazier Park, CA
  10. 2.1 5 km NNE of Castaic, CA
  11. 1.9 5 km NW of Sylmar, CA
  12. 2.4 8 km W of Frazier Park, CA
  13. 1.6 10 km SSW of Valencia, CA
  14. 2.5 10 km SSW of Valencia, CA
  15. 2.6 10 km SSW of Valencia, 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.