August 31, 1930 Earthquake: Southern, California, United States
A magnitude 5.2 earthquake struck Southern, California, United States on August 31, 1930 at 00:40:38 UTC, 15 km below the surface. It killed 1 person, counting the tsunami it caused.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- August 31, 1930
- Time
- 00:40:38 UTC
- Place
- Southern, California, United States
- Magnitude
- 5.2 (Ms)
- Focal depth
- 15 km (9 mi)
- Intensity
- 7 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- Yes: the tsunami it caused
- Epicenter
- 34.030° N, 118.643° W
- Country
- United States
The toll
- Deaths
- 1 with its tsunami and other effects
- Damage
- Limited (under about $1 million)
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
An earthquake occurred in the Santa Monica Bay, west of the Los Angeles Basin. It caused a cornice to fall from a building at Venice, and ground cracks formed along the edge of Palisades Park bluff at Santa Monica, north of Venice. Small earthslides and rockslids were reported. At Los Angeles, minor cracks formed in buildings, plaster fell, and dishes broke. Light damage also occurred at Chatsworth, Hollywood, Owensmouth, and Pasadena. The earthquake was felt throughout the Los Angeles Basin--from Kern County in the north to San Diego County in the south and east to the Palm Springs area. A tsunami of 6 m was observed at Santa Monica.
1930, August 30, 16:40 local time. There was an earthquake with epicenter at point 33.9 N, 118.6 W; M=5 1/4 (Reference #415).
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- March 11, 1933, Long Beach, California, United States
- February 9, 1971, San Fernando, California, United States
- January 17, 1994, Northridge, California, United States
- December 8, 1812, San Juan Capistrano, California, United States
- June 29, 1925, Santa Barbara, California, United States
- July 21, 1952, Kern County, California, United States
- October 1, 1987, Whittier, California, United States
- December 25, 1899, California, United States
- June 28, 1991, Arcadia, Glendale, Los Angeles, California, United States
- August 22, 1952, Kern County, California, United States
- October 4, 1987, Whittier, Pasadena, California, United States
- December 21, 1812, Purisima, California, United States
- April 21, 1918, San Jacinto, Hemet, California, United States
- September 9, 2001, Los Angeles, California, United States
- August 10, 1879, San Fernando, California, United States
More
Significant earthquakes of 1930The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1930Recent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 6619.