Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.5ml
Earthquake near Signal Hill, CA
Yes: an earthquake was likely felt in Signal Hill in the last 24 hours. M 2.4, 15 km (9 mi) SSW of Signal Hill, at 6:11 pm PST on 12 November 2026 (02:11 UTC); the estimated shaking in Signal Hill was intensity II (weak). 14 people have reported feeling it to USGS. Every earthquake near Signal Hill
This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 3 km (2 mi) west-northwest of Signal Hill, CA, at 5:41 am PST on 9 November 2026 (13:41 UTC), 10 km deep.
USGS: 3 km WNW of Signal Hill, CA
30 km (18 mi) SE of Los Angeles, CA · 5 km (3 mi) ESE of Carson, CA
- When
- 5:41 am PST on 9 November 2026 ()
- Where
- 3 km (2 mi) west-northwest of Signal Hill, CA · earthquakes near Signal Hill
- Magnitude
- M 1.5 (ml)
- Depth
- 10 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Los Angeles County, 42 km N
- Nearest mapped fault
- Palos Verdes fault, 10 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 4 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Signal Hill, CA
Get a notification in this browser when USGS records an earthquake near Signal Hill, 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 3 km (2 mi) from the epicentre. In Signal Hill, 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: Long Beach, Lakewood, Carson, Paramount, Compton, East Rancho Dominguez.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 6.2 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.5 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,500,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,700,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 150× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.5 about 6.2 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 4.5 on 2020-09-19 — about 32,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 13 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 28 km SE of this epicentre
- 5.9 The 1987 Whittier Narrows, California Earthquake · 29 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.4 5km S of Chino Hills, CA · 42 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 34 km NW of this epicentre
- 5.3 7km W of Newport Beach, CA · 29 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 33.8210, -118.1983. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County, CA | 42 km (26 mi) | N | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Orange County, CA | 42 km (26 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Ventura County, CA | 105 km (65 mi) | NW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
7 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.4 8 km SE of San Pedro, CA
- 1.4 3 km WNW of Azusa, CA
- 1.0 2 km S of Charter Oak, CA
- 1.1 2 km S of Yorba Linda, CA
- 1.3 3 km SW of Yorba Linda, CA
- 1.6 1 km ESE of Baldwin Hills, CA
- 0.6 3 km SSW of Charter Oak, 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.
Revisions
USGS refines a solution as more stations report. Every change we have seen is listed here.
| What changed | From | To | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| review status | automatic | reviewed | |
| location | 3 km NW of Signal Hill, CA | 3 km WNW of Signal Hill, CA | |
| longitude | -118.2 | -118.2 | |
| latitude | 33.82 | 33.82 | |
| depth | 8.15 | 10.21 | |
| magnitude | 1.72 | 1.54 | |
| location | 6 km E of Carson, CA | 3 km NW of Signal Hill, CA | |
| longitude | -118.22 | -118.2 | |
| latitude | 33.84 | 33.82 | |
| depth | 7.88 | 8.15 | |
| magnitude | 1.63 | 1.72 |
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.