Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 1.8ml
Earthquake near Malibu, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Malibu in the 24 hours to 1:34 pm PST (21:34 UTC). The last one was M 2.3, 8 km (5 mi) W, at 4:53 am PDT on 16 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 2 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Malibu
This page: a magnitude 1.8 earthquake was recorded 13 km (8 mi) west-northwest of Malibu, CA, at 8:21 am PDT on 24 August 2026 (15:21 UTC), 11 km deep.
USGS: 11 km WNW of Malibu, CA
46 km (29 mi) W of Los Angeles, CA · 15 km (9 mi) SSW of Thousand Oaks, CA
- When
- 8:21 am PDT on 24 August 2026 ()
- Where
- 13 km (8 mi) west-northwest of Malibu, CA · earthquakes near Malibu
- Magnitude
- M 1.8 (ml)
- Depth
- 11 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Ventura County, 39 km NNW
- Nearest mapped fault
- Malibu Coast 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 80 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Malibu, CA
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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 8 km (5 mi) from the epicentre. In Malibu, 13 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: Westlake Village, Thousand Oaks, Agoura Hills, Agoura, Oak Park, Camarillo.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 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 5.1 on 2023-08-20 — about 83,000 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 16 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km; the five largest:
- 6.7 Northridge, California, earthquake · 38 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.9 1km ENE of Granada Hills, California · 45 km ENE of this epicentre
- 5.6 7km NNE of Simi Valley, California · 36 km NNE of this epicentre
- 5.3 2 km SSW of Santa Monica, California · 39 km E of this epicentre
- 5.3 The 1973 Point Mugu, California Earthquake · 16 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 34.0602, -118.9122. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ventura County, CA | 39 km (24 mi) | NNW | earthquakes near Ventura County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 62 km (38 mi) | ENE | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
| Orange County, CA | 113 km (70 mi) | ESE | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Santa Barbara County, CA | 116 km (72 mi) | WNW | earthquakes near Santa Barbara County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
40 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 1.7 2 km E of Granada Hills, CA
- 1.1 2 km W of Chatsworth, CA
- 1.5 1 km SSW of Chatsworth, CA
- 1.4 1 km W of Chatsworth, CA
- 2.3 0 km SSE of Chatsworth, CA
- 1.4 1 km S of Chatsworth, CA
- 1.5 7 km S of Ojai, CA
- 1.8 2 km SE of Chatsworth, CA
- 0.9 12 km NNW of Chatsworth, CA
- 1.0 5 km WNW of Sylmar, CA
- 1.1 2 km ENE of Simi Valley, CA
- 1.9 9 km NW of Santa Paula, CA
- 1.2 3 km ESE of Beverly Hills, CA
- 1.2 6 km SSW of Encino, CA
- 2.2 9 km SSW of Valencia, 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.