QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 2.0ml

Earthquake near Manhattan Beach, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Manhattan Beach in the 24 hours to 9:00 am PST (17:00 UTC). The last one was M 3.2, 24 km (15 mi) ESE, at 12:44 am PDT on 9 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Manhattan Beach

This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 19 km (12 mi) west-southwest of Manhattan Beach, CA, at 5:40 am PST on 4 December 2025 (13:40 UTC), 9.4 km deep. 1 person has reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS: 19 km WSW of Manhattan Beach, CA

28 km (18 mi) SW of Los Angeles, CA · 18 km (11 mi) WSW of Redondo Beach, CA

5:40 am PST, Dec 4, 2025 · · 9.4 km deep · released about 32 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Manhattan Beach Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Los Angeles County 52 kmOrange County 77 kmVentura County 78 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
5:40 am PST on 4 December 2025 ()
Where
19 km (12 mi) west-southwest of Manhattan Beach, CA · earthquakes near Manhattan Beach
Magnitude
M 2.0 (ml)
Depth
9.4 km below the surface
Felt
1 report · strongest reported intensity I
Nearest
Los Angeles County, 52 km NE
Nearest mapped fault
San Pedro Basin fault, 5 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 343 days ago

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 13 km (8 mi) from the epicentre. In Manhattan Beach, 19 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: Hermosa Beach, Palos Verdes Estates, Redondo Beach, El Segundo, Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills Estates.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 32 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 470,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 330,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 30× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 2.0 about 32 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 4.7 on 2024-09-12 — about 11,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 8 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:

  1. 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 44 km N of this epicentre
  2. 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 22 km NNE of this epicentre
  3. 5.3 The 1973 Point Mugu, California Earthquake · 46 km WNW of this epicentre
  4. 5.2 1 km SW of Las Flores, California · 24 km N of this epicentre
  5. 5.2 13km S of Malibu Beach, CA · 14 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 33.8165, -118.5965. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Los Angeles County, CA 52 km (33 mi) NE earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Orange County, CA 77 km (48 mi) ESE earthquakes near Orange County
Ventura County, CA 78 km (48 mi) NW earthquakes near Ventura County

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

Aftershocks so far

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

  1. 2.3 16 km NNE of Avalon, CA
  2. 1.5 4 km WNW of Willowbrook, CA
  3. 2.0 18 km SE of Port Hueneme, CA
  4. 1.5 19 km S of Malibu Beach, CA
  5. 1.7 9 km S of Malibu Beach, CA
  6. 2.9 8 km S of Malibu Beach, CA
  7. 2.3 11 km SSE of San Pedro, CA
  8. 2.7 4 km W of Manhattan Beach, CA
  9. 2.1 1 km SSW of Bellflower, CA
  10. 1.7 2 km NW of Universal City, CA
  11. 1.6 13 km SW of Marina del Rey, CA
  12. 1.6 4 km W of Willowbrook, CA
  13. 1.9 2 km NE of Inglewood, CA
  14. 2.1 2 km NNW of Tarzana, CA
  15. 1.6 3 km SSW of Paramount, 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.