Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 3.5ml
Earthquake near Irvine, CA
USGS: 31 km SW of Dana Point, CA
95 km (59 mi) SSE of Los Angeles, CA · 36 km (22 mi) SW of San Clemente, CA
- When
- 1:22 pm PDT on 5 October 2026 ()
- Where
- 46 km (28 mi) SSW of Irvine, CA · earthquakes near Irvine
- Magnitude
- M 3.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- 94 reports · strongest reported intensity III
- Measured shaking
- intensity II (ShakeMap)
- Nearest
- Orange County, 48 km NNE
- Nearest mapped fault
- Palos Verdes 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 41 minutes ago
A magnitude 3.5 earthquake was recorded 46 km (28 mi) SSW of Irvine, CA, at 1:22 pm PDT on 5 October 2026 (20:22 UTC). 94 people have reported feeling it to USGS. This was a small earthquake. Shaking like this is often felt indoors nearby and very rarely causes damage.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 2.5 tons of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 4.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Northridge, California 1994 M 6.7 68,000× the energy of this one
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 3,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 2,100× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 3.5 about 2.5 tons of TNT
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 this one released 5.2× more
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
No earthquake of M4 or more has been recorded within 50 km since our catalogue begins in 2016.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 41 km N of this epicentre
- 5.5 The 1986 Oceanside, California Earthquake · 33 km S of this epicentre
- 5.3 7km W of Newport Beach, CA · 40 km N 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 33.2677, -117.9315. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange County, CA | 48 km (30 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 108 km (67 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| San Diego County, CA | 111 km (69 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near San Diego County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
1 earthquake has been recorded within 50 km since this one.
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.
Revisions
USGS refines a solution as more stations report. Every change we have seen is listed here.
| What changed | From | To | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| felt reports | 92 | 94 | |
| felt reports | 89 | 92 | |
| felt reports | 87 | 89 | |
| measured intensity | 2.41 | 2.38 | |
| location | 30 km SW of Dana Point, CA | 31 km SW of Dana Point, CA | |
| longitude | -117.92 | -117.93 | |
| latitude | 33.27 | 33.27 | |
| depth | 8.5 | 11.27 | |
| magnitude | 3.7 | 3.48 | |
| felt reports | 72 | 87 | |
| felt reports | 55 | 72 | |
| felt reports | 30 | 55 |
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.