Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.6ml
Earthquake near Dana Point, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Dana Point in the 24 hours to 7:57 am PST (15:57 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 31 km (19 mi) SW, at 1:22 pm PDT on 5 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 126 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Dana Point
This page: a magnitude 1.6 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) southeast of Dana Point, CA, at 6:40 am PDT on 4 September 2025 (13:40 UTC), 13 km deep.
USGS: 3 km SE of Dana Point, CA
6 km (4 mi) W of San Clemente, CA · 93 km (58 mi) SE of Los Angeles, CA
- When
- 6:40 am PDT on 4 September 2025 ()
- Where
- 3 km (2 mi) southeast of Dana Point, CA · earthquakes near Dana Point
- Magnitude
- M 1.6 (ml)
- Depth
- 13 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Orange County, 27 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Newport-Inglewood-Rose Canyon fault, 3 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 434 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Dana Point, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Dana Point, 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 it was probably too small to be felt, even directly above it. In Dana Point, 3 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: San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Laguna Niguel, Aliso Viejo, Laguna Beach, Ladera Ranch.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 8.1 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 1,300,000× 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 8.1 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 4.1 on 2024-05-01 — about 5,400 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 7 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 36 km NW of this epicentre
- 6.0 The 1910 Lake Elsinore, California Earthquake · 38 km NE of this epicentre
- 5.3 7km W of Newport Beach, CA · 36 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.2 8km ENE of Trabuco Canyon, CA · 32 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.0 Near Lake Elsinore, California · 38 km NE 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 33.4442, -117.6788. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange County, CA | 27 km (17 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Orange County |
| San Diego County, CA | 96 km (60 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near San Diego County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 99 km (62 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
54 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.6 4 km SE of Home Gardens, CA
- 1.8 4 km SE of Home Gardens, CA
- 1.5 6 km SSE of Home Gardens, CA
- 1.5 4 km SE of Home Gardens, CA
- 1.6 8 km ESE of Yorba Linda, CA
- 1.8 5 km SE of Seal Beach, CA
- 1.6 6 km W of Huntington Beach, CA
- 2.0 5 km SE of Home Gardens, CA
- 1.8 19 km NE of Avalon, CA
- 1.6 4 km SE of Home Gardens, CA
- 2.0 6 km ESE of Yorba Linda, CA
- 1.7 1 km W of Lakeland Village, CA
- 1.6 7 km SSE of Home Gardens, CA
- 1.8 4 km SE of Home Gardens, CA
- 2.1 3 km NE of Wildomar, 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.