Longtime residents of the Central Valley will remember the Coalinga earthquake of May 2, 1983, which occurred on a previously unknown fault and injured 94 people, mostly from furniture and other items falling or being thrown about, and from people being knocked to the ground from the shaking.
And if you own your home, one of the best things to do before the next big earthquake strikes is to strengthen it with a seismic retrofit. Learn how personal preparedness and practicing critical steps to safety can help you be ready. Damage from the earthquakes on July 8 was minor and included a rockslide in Coleville and items falling from shelves in nearby stores.Įven quakes that don’t cause major damage are a reminder that California is earthquake county, and it’s important to be prepared. Aftershocks continued to be felt into the night, with a magnitude 4.5 aftershock reported around 10:30 p.m. The magnitude 6.0 earthquake was widely felt, with reports as far away as the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento in California, and Carson City in Nevada. The largest, a 6.0 magnitude, occurred along the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada, a major physiographic boundary along the California-Nevada border. The quakes were a result of normal faulting and strike slip faults near the Antelope Valley fault, which runs north-south along the Sierra Nevada range front. On the afternoon of July 8, 2021, at least several dozen earthquakes struck Little Antelope Valley, which is in Inyo National Forest, approximately 20 miles southwest of Smith Valley, Nevada. Take a look at noteworthy temblors in our state’s recorded history by viewing this California earthquake history timeline. Many notable shakers-moderate or major earthquakes in California-have made history and are still remembered and talked about today. Jump to the most Recent Earthquakes in California Timeline of historical Earthquakes in CaliforniaĪlthough most of California's quakes are small in magnitude and cause little or no damage, California experiences more than 100 per day! Although the magnitude and epicenter are unclear, by comparing the descriptions with more recent events, the quake may have been similar in strength to the 1933 Long Beach or 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake. Some described the shaking in expedition diaries as violent, occurring over the next several days, suggesting aftershocks. Members of the expedition led by Gaspar de Portolá were camped along the Santa Ana River when they felt a strong earthquake.īased on descriptions of the quake, it was likely a moderate or strong earthquake. The closer you are, the sharper the motion,” earthquake expert Lucy Jones said on Twitter.Home > Earthquake Risk > List of Notable and Major California Earthquakes List of Notable and Major California Earthquakes California's Earthquake HistoryĪlthough earlier earthquakes have been documented-such as significant movement on the southern San Andreas fault all the way back to the 1600s-the earliest reported earthquake in California was on July 28, 1769, noted by members of a Spanish expedition to chart a land route from San Diego to Monterey. Because it is 10 miles down, everyone is at least 10 miles from it. “What you feel in a small earthquake like this morning depends on how close you are to it. There were no immediate reports of damage.Īccording to the USGS reports, the shake was felt from Santa Clarita to Orange County. The depth at which the earthquake occurred reduced how widely it was felt. The USGS initially reported the magnitude as 3.9 and the depth of the quake as 10.6 miles, and later adjusted the figures to magnitude 3.6 and a depth of 10.7 miles.
The quake occurred about 1 mile from Boyle Heights, 1.5 miles from East Los Angeles and just over 2 miles from the communities of Maywood and Commerce, according to the USGS. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.Ī magnitude 3.6 earthquake struck near Los Angeles at about 7:01 a.m. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated.