M1.8 earthquake 15km SSE of Avalon, CA

Magnitude

1.8 (Mh), micro

Magnitude from

Southern California Seismic Network

Local time

Thu, Mar 12, 1981, 10:59 PM PST

UTC

1981-03-13 06:59:43 UTC

Depth

5.8 km (3.6 mi), shallow

Epicenter

33.213° N, 118.295° W

Region

California

Tsunami flag

No

Status

Reviewed by a seismologist

Location uncertainty

About 3.4 km horizontally, 31.6 km in depth

Magnitude uncertainty

±0.35

Depth from

Operator assigned

Station coverage gap

252°, poorly surrounded by stations

Stations used

2

• Avalon, CaliforniaPopulation 3,799. Forecast15 kmSSE
• Newport Beach, CaliforniaPopulation 87,127. Forecast57 kmSW
• Huntington Beach, CaliforniaPopulation 201,899. Forecast57 kmSSW
• Los Angeles, CaliforniaPopulation 3,820,914. Forecast93 kmS

After

1. 1.822km SSW of Rancho Palos Verdes, CAMon, Mar 16, 11:15 PM PST · 16638 days ago · 5 km deep · 45 km away
2. 2.08km SSW of Malibu Beach, CAFri, Mar 27, 4:57 PM PST · 16628 days ago · 15 km deep · 93 km away
3. 1.92km W of Huntington Beach, CASat, Mar 28, 3:11 AM PST · 16627 days ago · 4 km deep · 59 km away
4. 1.61km NW of Los Alamitos, CASat, Mar 28, 4:55 AM PST · 16627 days ago · 2 km deep · 69 km away
5. 2.242km E of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CAMon, Mar 30, 3:39 PM PST · 16625 days ago · 6 km deep · 60 km away
6. 1.77km E of San Pedro, CAWed, Apr 1, 4:52 AM PST · 16623 days ago · 5 km deep · 59 km away
7. 2.012km SW of Rancho Palos Verdes, CAThu, Apr 2, 9:00 AM PST · 16622 days ago · 6 km deep · 54 km away
8. 1.72km W of Huntington Beach, CAFri, Apr 3, 11:47 AM PST · 16621 days ago · 5 km deep · 59 km away
9. 1.846km ENE of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CASat, Apr 4, 7:15 AM PST · 16620 days ago · 6 km deep · 43 km away
10. 2.018km N of Avalon, CASat, Apr 4, 10:50 PM PST · 16619 days ago · -1 km deep · 32 km away
11. 1.710km W of Palos Verdes Estates, CAWed, Apr 8, 6:10 PM PST · 16616 days ago · 10 km deep · 68 km away
12. 1.945km SSW of San Clemente, CAWed, Apr 8, 7:58 PM PST · 16615 days ago · 5 km deep · 42 km away
13. 1.844km SSW of San Clemente, CAWed, Apr 8, 8:20 PM PST · 16615 days ago · 6 km deep · 45 km away
14. 2.045km E of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CASun, Apr 12, 2:10 AM PST · 16612 days ago · 6 km deep · 63 km away
15. 2.36km WSW of Newport Beach, CATue, Apr 14, 4:34 PM PST · 16610 days ago · 1 km deep · 52 km away
16. 1.88km W of El Segundo, CATue, Apr 21, 4:44 AM PST · 16603 days ago · 10 km deep · 80 km away
17. 2.32km NW of Costa Mesa, CATue, Apr 21, 5:36 AM PST · 16603 days ago · 4 km deep · 62 km away
18. 1.54km NW of Yorba Linda, CAWed, Apr 22, 10:56 PM PST · 16601 days ago · 14 km deep · 89 km away
19. 2.05km N of Yorba Linda, CAWed, Apr 22, 11:04 PM PST · 16601 days ago · 6 km deep · 91 km away
20. 2.02km NNW of Brea, CASun, Apr 26, 6:45 PM PDT · 16598 days ago · 7 km deep · 88 km away
21. 1.54km N of Huntington Park, CAMon, Apr 27, 1:47 PM PDT · 16597 days ago · 11 km deep · 89 km away
22. 1.731km NNE of Santa Barbara Is., CATue, Apr 28, 12:32 PM PDT · 16596 days ago · 6 km deep · 87 km away
23. 1.61km SE of MacArthur Park, CAFri, May 1, 4:18 AM PDT · 16593 days ago · 10 km deep · 93 km away
24. 2.028km S of Malibu, CAFri, May 1, 12:14 PM PDT · 16593 days ago · 6 km deep · 80 km away
25. 1.72km SW of Los Angeles, CASat, May 2, 3:40 AM PDT · 16592 days ago · 10 km deep · 92 km away
26. 3.04km NW of Huntington Beach, CATue, May 5, 10:56 PM PDT · 16588 days ago · 7 km deep · 62 km away
27. 1.913km SSE of Malibu Beach, CAThu, May 7, 3:26 AM PDT · 16587 days ago · 13 km deep · 86 km away
28. 2.13km NNW of Maywood, CAFri, May 8, 1:03 PM PDT · 16586 days ago · 14 km deep · 89 km away
29. 1.522km S of Rancho Palos Verdes, CASun, May 10, 6:31 AM PDT · 16584 days ago · 5 km deep · 37 km away
30. 2.316km E of San Clemente Is. (SE tip), CAMon, May 11, 5:38 PM PDT · 16583 days ago · 6 km deep · 45 km away

Before

1. 1.64km SSW of Culver City, CATue, Mar 10, 12:20 AM PST · 16645 days ago · 5 km deep · 87 km away
2. 2.02km WNW of Compton, CAMon, Mar 9, 7:24 PM PST · 16645 days ago · 14 km deep · 77 km away
3. 1.74km WNW of San Clemente, CASun, Mar 8, 4:00 PM PST · 16647 days ago · 6 km deep · 64 km away
4. 1.63km W of Inglewood, CASat, Mar 7, 1:51 PM PST · 16648 days ago · 3 km deep · 83 km away
5. 1.612km SSE of Rancho Palos Verdes, CAFri, Mar 6, 6:33 AM PST · 16649 days ago · 5 km deep · 47 km away
6. 2.411km NNE of Trabuco Canyon, CAMon, Mar 2, 1:26 AM PST · 16653 days ago · 3 km deep · 93 km away
7. 1.812km NNE of Trabuco Canyon, CAMon, Mar 2, 1:06 AM PST · 16653 days ago · 0 km deep · 94 km away
8. 1.79km NE of Foothill Ranch, CAMon, Mar 2, 12:55 AM PST · 16653 days ago · 5 km deep · 88 km away
9. 2.13km ESE of Rowland Heights, CASat, Feb 28, 1:58 PM PST · 16655 days ago · 8 km deep · 92 km away
10. 1.911km NE of Trabuco Canyon, CAThu, Feb 26, 6:53 PM PST · 16657 days ago · 7 km deep · 93 km away
11. 2.39km SSE of Malibu Beach, CATue, Feb 24, 12:49 PM PST · 16659 days ago · 4 km deep · 89 km away
12. 2.017km WSW of Manhattan Beach, CAWed, Feb 18, 5:18 AM PST · 16665 days ago · -1 km deep · 73 km away
13. 1.827km W of Rancho Palos Verdes, CATue, Feb 17, 4:29 AM PST · 16666 days ago · 6 km deep · 69 km away
14. 1.93km NE of Inglewood, CAMon, Feb 16, 6:44 PM PST · 16667 days ago · 5 km deep · 84 km away

From the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program and its partner networks, event ci12261855. Read Mon, Oct 5, 2026, 2:30 PM UTC.