Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Santa Clarita, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Santa Clarita in the 24 hours to 4:35 pm PST (00:35 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 16 km (10 mi) SSW, at 9:45 am PST on 7 November 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 26 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Santa Clarita
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 12 km (7 mi) northeast of Santa Clarita, CA, at 10:26 am PST on 5 March 2026 (18:26 UTC), 13 km deep.
USGS: 8 km NE of Santa Clarita, CA
7 km (5 mi) NNE of Santa Clarita, CA · 51 km (31 mi) N of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 10:26 am PST on 5 March 2026 ()
- Where
- 12 km (7 mi) northeast of Santa Clarita, CA · earthquakes near Santa Clarita
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 13 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Los Angeles County, 36 km SSE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Gabriel fault, 9 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 251 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Santa Clarita, 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Santa Clarita, 12 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: Agua Dulce, Stevenson Ranch, Valencia, Castaic, Val Verde, Leona Valley.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 9 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.6 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,200,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 110× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 9 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 4.2 on 2020-07-30 — about 6,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 17 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 30 km SSW of this epicentre
- 6.6 1971 San Fernando Earthquake, California · 10 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 22 km S of this epicentre
- 5.8 10km SSW of Agua Dulce, CA · 10 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.8 10km SSW of Agua Dulce, CA · 10 km SE 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 34.4732, -118.4567. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County, CA | 36 km (22 mi) | SSE | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Ventura County, CA | 63 km (39 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Kern County, CA | 100 km (62 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Kern County |
| Orange County, CA | 109 km (67 mi) | SE | earthquakes near Orange County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
40 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.6 9 km SW of Valencia, CA
- 1.6 22 km S of Gorman, CA
- 1.6 5 km NNW of Chatsworth, CA
- 1.9 4 km SSW of Castaic, CA
- 1.6 2 km ESE of Century City, CA
- 2.2 2 km N of Culver City, CA
- 1.5 5 km S of Encino, CA
- 1.9 4 km ESE of Vincent, CA
- 1.8 20 km NNW of Piru, CA
- 2.4 20 km NNW of Piru, CA
- 1.6 1 km WNW of Universal City, CA
- 1.5 6 km SW of Piru, CA
- 1.8 21 km NNW of Piru, CA
- 1.9 21 km NNW of Piru, CA
- 1.8 21 km NNW of Piru, 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.