Earthquake · reviewed by a seismologist
M 2.0ml
Earthquake near Avalon, CA
No earthquake was likely felt in Avalon in the 24 hours to 4:54 am PST (12:54 UTC). The last one was M 3.5, 38 km (23 mi) ESE, at 1:22 pm PDT on 5 October 2026, estimated intensity II (weak) in town; 126 felt reports to USGS. Every earthquake near Avalon
This page: a magnitude 2.0 earthquake was recorded 27 km (17 mi) east-southeast of Avalon, CA, at 5:45 am PDT on 12 September 2026 (12:45 UTC), 13 km deep.
USGS: 27 km ESE of Avalon, CA
92 km (57 mi) SSE of Los Angeles, CA · 43 km (27 mi) SSW of Newport Beach, CA
- When
- 5:45 am PDT on 12 September 2026 ()
- Where
- 27 km (17 mi) east-southeast of Avalon, CA · earthquakes near Avalon
- Magnitude
- M 2.0 (ml)
- Depth
- 13 km below the surface
- Felt
- no reports yet
- Nearest
- Orange County, 55 km NNE
- Nearest mapped fault
- San Diego Trough 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 57 days ago
Earthquake alerts for Avalon, 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 9 km (6 mi) from the epicentre. In Avalon, 27 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.
How big was it?
This earthquake released about 35 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 3.0 would have released about 32 times as much.
- Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 440,000× the energy of this one
- Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 310,000× the energy of this one
- Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 28× the energy of this one
- This earthquake M 2.0 about 35 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 2024-01-01 — about 1,100 times the energy of this one.
Before 2016, the USGS record lists 4 earthquakes of M5 or more within 50 km:
- 6.4 The 1933 Long Beach, California Earthquake · 44 km N of this epicentre
- 5.8 11km NNE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CA · 42 km SSW of this epicentre
- 5.5 The 1986 Oceanside, California Earthquake · 35 km SSE of this epicentre
- 5.3 7km W of Newport Beach, CA · 43 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 33.2395, -118.0660. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Nearby places
| Place | Distance | Direction from the epicentre | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange County, CA | 55 km (34 mi) | NNE | earthquakes near Orange County |
| Los Angeles County, CA | 108 km (67 mi) | N | earthquakes near Los Angeles County |
Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.
Aftershocks so far
18 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.
- 2.0 36 km SSW of San Clemente, CA
- 2.4 35 km SSW of San Clemente, CA
- 1.8 14 km NNE of Avalon, CA
- 1.5 5 km NW of Newport Beach, CA
- 1.5 31 km SW of Dana Point, CA
- 2.3 31 km SW of Dana Point, CA
- 2.1 32 km SW of Dana Point, CA
- 1.5 9 km NNE of Avalon, CA
- 2.1 31 km SW of Dana Point, CA
- 2.5 31 km SW of Dana Point, CA
- 2.8 32 km SW of Dana Point, CA
- 3.5 31 km SW of Dana Point, CA
- 2.2 3 km SSE of Costa Mesa, CA
- 2.3 46 km WSW of Carlsbad, CA
- 2.4 29 km SSW of Dana Point, 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.