April 4, 1961 Earthquake: Terminal Island, California, United States

Date

April 4, 1961

Time

21:32:00 UTC

Place

Terminal Island, California, United States

Focal depth

16 km (10 mi)

Tsunami

None recorded

Epicenter

34.000° N, 118.000° W

Country

United States

Region

North America and Hawaii

USGS record

The USGS’s page for this earthquake

Damage

$4.5 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.

1. #1040 Rothe, J.P. (1969). The Seismicity of the Earth 1953-1965, United National Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Paris, France, 312 p. plus maps.
2. #1128 Coffman, J.L. and C.A. von Hake (1973-1982). Earthquake History of the United States, Pub. 41-1, U.S. Department of Commerce, Boulder, CO, 1973, and 1982 Supplement.

• March 11, 1933, Long Beach, California, United StatesM6.3 · 120 deaths · $41 million · 42 km
• February 9, 1971, San Fernando, California, United StatesM6.5 · 65 deaths · $505 million · 59 km
• January 17, 1994, Northridge, California, United StatesM6.7 · 57 deaths · $40 billion · 40,000 houses destroyed · 55 km
• December 8, 1812, San Juan Capistrano, California, United StatesM6.9 · 40 deaths · 52 km
• July 21, 1952, Kern County, California, United StatesM7.7 · 12 deaths · $60 million · 145 km
• October 1, 1987, Whittier, California, United StatesM5.7 · 8 deaths · $358 million · 10 km
• December 25, 1899, California, United StatesM6.4 · 6 deaths · 108 km
• June 28, 1992, Landers, Yucca Valley, California, United StatesM7.6 · 3 deaths · $92 million · 146 km
• June 28, 1991, Arcadia, Glendale, Los Angeles, California, United StatesM5.1 · 2 deaths · $33.5 million · 29 km
• August 22, 1952, Kern County, California, United StatesM5.8 · 2 deaths · $10 million · 90 houses destroyed · 170 km
• October 4, 1987, Whittier, Pasadena, California, United StatesM4.8 · 1 death · 12 km
• August 31, 1930, Southern, California, United StatesM5.2 · 1 death · 59 km
• April 21, 1918, San Jacinto, Hemet, California, United StatesM6.7 · 1 death · $200,000 · 99 km
• December 21, 1812, Purisima, California, United StatesM7.5 · 1 death · 176 km
• July 4, 2019, Ridgecrest, Nevada, California, United StatesM6.4 · 1 death · $50 million · 195 km

Significant earthquakes of 1961The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1961Recent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history

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 2026-10-01. NCEI earthquake 4242. The written accounts and the magnitude estimates are from the USGS earthquake catalog, event ci3344890, matched to this record by time, place and magnitude.