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SeismoAtlas

M1.2 earthquake 12 km ENE of Santa Monica, California, United States

A magnitude 1.2 earthquake struck 12 km ENE of Santa Monica, California, United States at 03:21 local time (10:21 UTC) on 21 Oct 2026, at a depth of 7 km, according to USGS.

revised from M1.3

Data: USGS · updated 2026-10-21 15:28 UTC · reviewed

Magnitude
1.2micro
local magnitude (Richter) (ml)
revised from 1.3
Depth
7.3 km
Status
Reviewed
Origin time
2026-10-21 10:21:57 UTC
Local: 21 Oct 2026, 03:21:57 (America/Los Angeles)
Epicentre
34.066° N, 118.373° W

Circles show this event and others within 30 km from 7 days before to 30 days after. Lines: plate boundaries and GEM active faults. Open on the live map

Nearby places

Distance and estimated shaking at nearby places
PlaceDistanceEst. shaking
Santa MonicaCalifornia, United States · pop. 93,22012 kmINot felt
InglewoodCalifornia, United States · pop. 111,66612 kmINot felt
Los AngelesCalifornia, United States · pop. 3,820,91412 kmINot felt
GlendaleCalifornia, United States · pop. 201,02013 kmINot felt
Long BeachCalifornia, United States · pop. 474,14037 kmINot felt
AnaheimCalifornia, United States · pop. 350,74250 kmINot felt
Santa AnaCalifornia, United States · pop. 310,22758 kmINot felt
IrvineCalifornia, United States · pop. 256,92767 kmINot felt

Shaking is an estimate from the intensity prediction equation of Allen, Wald & Worden (2012), not an observation. Local ground and buildings can change it by a level or more.

Every agency's solution

Agencies locate earthquakes with their own stations and methods, so their numbers differ. We match reports of the same event by time, distance and magnitude and show them side by side. The headline uses USGS · CI, which has been reviewed by an analyst.

AgencyMagnitudeDepthEpicentreTime offsetStatus
USGS · CIheadlineSouthern California Seismic Network via U.S. Geological Survey1.2 mlwas 1.37.3 km34.07° N, 118.37° W–Reviewed · 2 revisions

How big was it?

Usually not felt. Recorded by nearby seismometers; thousands occur worldwide every day.

It released roughly the energy of 1 kg of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step means about 32 times more energy and 10 times larger waves on a seismogram. Depth matters too: at 7 km this was a shallow earthquake, which is felt more strongly at the surface than a deeper one of the same size.

M1.2 releases about 2.2× the energy of M1.0, and its waves are about 1.7× taller on a seismogram. Energy: 1 kg of TNT vs 477 g of TNT.

Each square is the energy of one M1.0. Energy from log₁₀E = 1.5M + 4.8.

Aftershocks and nearby activity

20 later earthquakes within 30 km; the largest was M2.3 5 days ago. 3 in the 7 days before. Aftershock rates usually fall off roughly in proportion to 1/time.

Aftershocks

Mainshock M1.2

20 later earthquakes nearby. Aftershock rates typically fall off roughly as 1/time (Omori's law).

Aftershocks
Time after mainshock (hours)MagnitudeDepth (km)
111.311.64
161.201.111
161.991.711
164.710.911
168.380.79
168.940.811
171.310.710
171.990.711
172.100.810
173.121.311
201.720.89
241.570.57
251.161.812
263.771.817
407.371.116
410.271.42
415.392.33
448.011.55
471.731.711
495.521.66
  1. 2.316 km S of Stevenson Ranch, California, United States11-07 17:45
  2. 1.817 km S of Stevenson Ranch, California, United States11-01 10:08
  3. 1.8Near West Rancho Dominguez, California, United States10-31 21:31
  4. 1.714 km SSE of Santa Clarita, California, United States11-10 02:06
  5. 1.73 km S of Glendale, California, United States10-28 04:21
  6. 1.610 km SE of Santa Clarita, California, United States10-26 01:40
  7. 1.64 km NNW of Inglewood, California, United States11-11 01:53
  8. 1.516 km ENE of Oak Park, California, United States11-09 02:22
  9. 1.416 km S of Stevenson Ranch, California, United States11-07 12:37
  10. 1.36 km NE of Los Angeles, California, United States10-28 15:29
  11. 1.14 km S of Glendale, California, United States10-28 03:34
  12. 1.16 km WSW of Burbank, California, United States11-07 09:44
  13. 0.94 km S of Glendale, California, United States10-28 07:04
  14. 0.85 km N of Inglewood, California, United States10-29 20:05
  15. 0.83 km SSW of Glendale, California, United States10-28 11:18
  16. 0.83 km SSW of Glendale, California, United States10-28 14:28
  17. 0.73 km SSW of Glendale, California, United States10-28 13:40
  18. 0.74 km SSW of Glendale, California, United States10-28 14:21
  19. 0.77 km NE of La Crescenta-Montrose, California, United States10-28 10:44
  20. 0.56 km N of Altadena, California, United States10-31 11:55

Did you feel it?

Reports from people help show where shaking was strong. They are anonymous and shown here in aggregate.

Reports close 14 days after an earthquake.

Reports on SeismoAtlas

No reports yet.

Event id ci41350007. First recorded here 21 Oct 2026, 10:25:38 UTC. Solutions: USGS · CI (usgs:ci41350007). Cite as: SeismoAtlas, “M1.2 earthquake 12 km ENE of Santa Monica, California, United States”, https://seismoatlas.com/earthquake/ci41350007-m1-2-earthquake-12-km-ene-of-santa-monica-california-united-states, data from USGS.

JSON: /api/v1/events/ci41350007. SeismoAtlas is not an official warning service.