QuakeIndex

Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.5ml

Earthquake near Lake Los Angeles, CA

No earthquake was likely felt in Lake Los Angeles in the 24 hours to 5:04 pm PST (01:04 UTC). The last one was M 4.3, 78 km (48 mi) N, at 9:40 am PDT on 13 July 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 1,090 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Lake Los Angeles

This page: a magnitude 1.5 earthquake was recorded 5 km (3 mi) southeast of Lake Los Angeles, CA, at 5:52 pm PDT on 18 April 2026 (00:52 UTC), 8.5 km deep.

USGS: 5 km SE of Lake Los Angeles, CA

85 km (53 mi) NE of Los Angeles, CA · 30 km (18 mi) E of Palmdale, CA

5:52 pm PDT, Apr 18, 2026 · · 8.5 km deep · released about 5.7 lb of TNT

Every earthquake near Lake Los Angeles Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Los Angeles County 61 kmOrange County 101 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
5:52 pm PDT on 18 April 2026 ()
Where
5 km (3 mi) southeast of Lake Los Angeles, CA · earthquakes near Lake Los Angeles
Magnitude
M 1.5 (ml)
Depth
8.5 km below the surface
Felt
no reports yet
Nearest
Los Angeles County, 61 km SW
Nearest mapped fault
San Andreas fault, 17 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 208 days ago

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 6 km (4 mi) from the epicentre. In Lake Los Angeles, 5 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: Sun Village, Littlerock, Piñon Hills, Phelan, Wrightwood.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 5.7 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.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 2,600,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 1,900,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 170× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.5 about 5.7 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 19,000 times the energy of this one.

Before 2016, the USGS record lists 3 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:

  1. 5.8 The 1991 Sierra Madre, California Earthquake · 40 km SSW of this epicentre
  2. 5.5 The 1990 Upland, California Earthquake · 49 km S of this epicentre
  3. 5.2 3km W of Lytle Creek, CA · 43 km SSE 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 34.5817, -117.7813. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection from the epicentre
Los Angeles County, CA 61 km (38 mi) SW earthquakes near Los Angeles County
Orange County, CA 101 km (63 mi) S earthquakes near Orange County
Kern County, CA 121 km (75 mi) NW earthquakes near Kern County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

32 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 0.7 6 km SSE of Pearblossom, CA
  2. 1.1 4 km SE of Littlerock, CA
  3. 1.7 5 km SW of Lytle Creek, CA
  4. 1.0 11 km N of Victorville, CA
  5. 0.6 7 km N of Rancho Cucamonga, CA
  6. 0.6 9 km NNW of Rancho Cucamonga, CA
  7. 1.0 5 km SE of Lytle Creek, CA
  8. 0.7 9 km N of Claremont, CA
  9. 1.0 8 km S of Llano, CA
  10. 1.0 2 km ESE of Littlerock, CA
  11. 0.4 7 km SSW of Pearblossom, CA
  12. 0.5 12 km WSW of Wrightwood, CA
  13. 1.2 5 km NE of Bradbury, CA
  14. 1.1 11 km N of Victorville, CA
  15. 1.2 10 km NE of Glendora, 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

QuakeIndex does not issue warnings. For earthquake early warning see ShakeAlert.