Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Palmdale, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Palmdale in the 24 hours to 6:09 am PST (14:09 UTC). The last one was M 3.8, 63 km (39 mi) WSW, at 8:00 pm PDT on 29 September 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 199 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Palmdale
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 35 km (22 mi) east-southeast of Palmdale, CA, at 10:58 pm PDT on 4 May 2026 (05:58 UTC), less than 1 km deep.
USGS: 7 km S of Llano, CA
74 km (46 mi) NE of Los Angeles, CA · 32 km (20 mi) NNE of Glendora, CA
- When
- 10:58 pm PDT on 4 May 2026 ()
- Where
- 35 km (22 mi) east-southeast of Palmdale, CA · earthquakes near Palmdale
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 1.0 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Los Angeles County, 52 km WSW
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Andreas 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 191 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Palmdale, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Palmdale, CA. No account or email needed.
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 11 km (7 mi) from the epicentre. In Palmdale, 35 km away, the estimate is intensity I (not felt). 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: Piñon Hills, Wrightwood, Phelan, Lake Los Angeles, Littlerock, Sun Village.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 7.8 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 1,900,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,400,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 120× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.6 about 7.8 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 4.4 on 2018-08-29 — about 14,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 6 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 50 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.8 The 1991 Sierra Madre, California Earthquake · 27 km SW of this epicentre
- 5.5 The 1990 Upland, California Earthquake · 33 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.2 3km W of Lytle Creek, CA · 30 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.2 2km WSW of Rosemead, CA · 49 km SW 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 34.4307, -117.7777. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County, CA | 52 km (32 mi) | WSW | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Orange County, CA | 84 km (52 mi) | S | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Kern County, CA | 134 km (83 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Kern County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
35 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 0.9 4 km W of Devore, CA
- 0.9 6 km SE of Ontario, CA
- 0.8 3 km ENE of Fontana, CA
- 0.4 7 km SSW of Pearblossom, CA
- 0.5 12 km WSW of Wrightwood, CA
- 1.3 3 km ENE of Fontana, CA
- 0.9 2 km NW of Muscoy, CA
- 0.9 6 km NW of Mira Loma, CA
- 1.2 5 km NE of Bradbury, CA
- 1.1 11 km N of Victorville, CA
- 1.2 10 km NE of Glendora, CA
- 1.5 5 km SE of Ontario, CA
- 3.2 6 km SE of Ontario, CA
- 1.6 4 km WNW of Muscoy, CA
- 1.7 6 km NNW of Fontana, 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.