Earthquake Los Angeles Today: Live LA Quake Map

Key context

What is normal within 100 km of Los Angeles

Over the 30 years 1996-2025, USGS recorded 570 earthquakes of M3 or more within 100 km of Los Angeles: about 19 a year, or 1.6 a month. The past 12 months had 23, about 21% more than the 30-year average. Quakes of M6 or more average 0 a year here (0 in 30 years), and none happened in the past 12 months.

Busy years usually mean one large quake and its aftershocks: the peak year here was 1997 with 39. Counts cover a circle with a 100 km (62 mile) radius around downtown Los Angeles, from Ventura County to the Inland Empire and Orange County. They come from the USGS ComCat catalog, which records small quakes more completely in the US than elsewhere, so compare like with like.

Largest earthquakes recorded within 100 km of Los Angeles

Plates and faults

Los Angeles sits in the "Big Bend" of the San Andreas Fault, where the fault turns west and the Pacific and North American plates squeeze together instead of only sliding past each other. That squeezing has raised the Transverse Ranges and created thrust faults, some of them hidden under the city (blind thrusts).

The 1994 Northridge quake (M6.7) and the 1987 Whittier Narrows quake (M5.9) came from such thrust faults, not from the San Andreas itself, which runs about 50 km north-east of downtown along the San Gabriel Mountains.

• San Andreas Fault (Mojave segment, about 50 km north-east)
• Puente Hills blind thrust (under downtown)
• Newport-Inglewood Fault (1933 Long Beach, M6.4)
• Hollywood, Santa Monica and Raymond faults
• Sierra Madre Fault (San Gabriel Valley)
• Northridge blind thrust (San Fernando Valley)

Where the recent quakes were

Of the 6 quakes of the past 30 days, 6 were shallow (less than 70 km deep), 0 intermediate (70-300 km) and 0 deep (more than 300 km). 0 reached M4 or more. The places USGS named most often were Dana Point, CA (3), Signal Hill, CA (1), Fontana, CA (1).

Official sources and warnings

• USGS ShakeAlert and the MyShake app: early warnings for Los Angeles County through Wireless Emergency Alerts, Android phones and MyShake.
• Southern California Seismic Network (Caltech and USGS): the detailed catalog and maps for Southern California, often faster for small local quakes.
• City of Los Angeles earthquake information: city information on quakes, retrofits and preparedness.

What to do in an earthquake

If you feel shaking: Drop, Cover and Hold On until it stops. Stay away from windows and heavy furniture, and do not run outside during the shaking. On a coast, strong or long shaking is a natural tsunami warning: move to high ground or inland at once, on foot if you can. Then follow your local officials; this page is not a warning service.

In Los Angeles, Drop, Cover and Hold On. Keep emergency alerts turned on: ShakeAlert warnings reach LA County phones automatically through Wireless Emergency Alerts.