October 4, 1987 Earthquake: Whittier, Pasadena, California, United States

Date

October 4, 1987

Time

10:59:38 UTC

Place

Whittier, Pasadena, California, United States

Magnitude

4.8 (Ms)

Focal depth

8 km (5 mi)

Tsunami

None recorded

Epicenter

34.070° N, 118.100° W

Country

United States

Deaths

1

Injuries

Some (about 51 to 100)

Damage

Moderate (about $1 to $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.

• March 11, 1933, Long Beach, California, United StatesM6.3 · 120 deaths · $41 million · 51 km
• February 9, 1971, San Fernando, California, United StatesM6.5 · 65 deaths · $505 million · 47 km
• January 17, 1994, Northridge, California, United StatesM6.7 · 57 deaths · $40 billion · 40,000 houses destroyed · 43 km
• December 8, 1812, San Juan Capistrano, California, United StatesM6.9 · 40 deaths · 53 km
• June 29, 1925, Santa Barbara, California, United StatesM6.8 · 13 deaths · $8 million · 197 km
• July 21, 1952, Kern County, California, United StatesM7.7 · 12 deaths · $60 million · 133 km
• October 1, 1987, Whittier, California, United StatesM5.7 · 8 deaths · $358 million · 2 km
• December 25, 1899, California, United StatesM6.4 · 6 deaths · 120 km
• June 28, 1992, Landers, Yucca Valley, California, United StatesM7.6 · 3 deaths · $92 million · 154 km
• June 28, 1991, Arcadia, Glendale, Los Angeles, California, United StatesM5.1 · 2 deaths · $33.5 million · 23 km
• August 22, 1952, Kern County, California, United StatesM5.8 · 2 deaths · $10 million · 90 houses destroyed · 159 km
• August 31, 1930, Southern, California, United StatesM5.2 · 1 death · 50 km
• April 21, 1918, San Jacinto, Hemet, California, United StatesM6.7 · 1 death · $200,000 · 110 km
• December 21, 1812, Purisima, California, United StatesM7.5 · 1 death · 166 km
• July 4, 2019, Ridgecrest, Nevada, California, United StatesM6.4 · 1 death · $50 million · 190 km

Significant earthquakes of 1987The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1987Recent 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 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 5146.