How frequent are earthquakes in or near California, USA?

California has a moderate level of seismic activity. Based on data from the past 14 years and our earthquake archive back to 1900, there are about 45,000 quakes on average per year in or near California, USA. However, California has had at least 21 quakes above magnitude 7 since 1900, which suggests that larger earthquakes of this size occur infrequently, probably on average approximately every 5 to 10 years.

How many earthquakes occur every year in or near California, USA?

On average, California has about 497 quakes of magnitude 3 or higher per year (Mag 4+: 54 quakes per year, Mag 5+: 4.8 quakes per year).

When was the latest earthquake in California?

The last earthquake in California occurred 9 minutes ago and had a magnitude of 0.8: A light magnitude 0.8 earthquake hit 33 km (20 mi) away from Indian Wells, California, United States, in the afternoon of Saturday, Dec 7, 2024 at 4.07 pm local time (GMT -8). The quake had a very shallow depth of 8.1 km (5 mi) and was too small to be felt by people.

How many quakes were there in California in the past 24 hours?

In the past 24 hours, California has had 7 quakes of magnitude 3.0 or above and 35 quakes between 2.0 and 3.0. There were also 109 quakes below magnitude 2.0 which people don't normally feel.

101 quakes Mag. 1+

42 quakes Mag. 2+

Number of quakes vs long-term average, past 24 hours
Earthquake activity above average

Latest quakes in or near California, USA, in the past 24 hours on Sunday, December 8, 2024 - list, stats and map

Latest today See all	Mag. 0.8 earthquake 22 km SSE of Twentynine Palms - CA -
Latest felt	Mag. 2.7 earthquake - 54 km WNW of Petrolia - CA -
Strongest today	Mag. 3.8 56 km WNW of Petrolia - CA -

Felt a quake? Report it!

Updated: Dec 8, 2024 00:16 GMT - refresh

Find all latest earthquakes in or near California, USA, in our list below, updated every minute! Events are often reported within minutes. If you just felt a quake in or near California, find out which quakes are happening right now!

On this page: Map Quake List Archive Quake Stats FAQ

In the past 24 hours, California has had 151 quakes of magnitudes up to 3.8:

7 quakes above magnitude 3
35 quakes between magnitude 2 and 3
109 quakes below magnitude 2 that people normally don't feel.

Number of quakes per year

	Total number	<M2	M2+	M3+	M4+	M5+	M6+	M7+
Past 24 hours	151 quakes	59	35	7	-	-	-	-
Past 7 days	935 quakes	373	145	58	10	-	-	1
Past 30 days	2,878 quakes	1,345	293	70	10	-	-	1
Past 90 days	8,219 quakes	4,024	592	63	11	-	-	-
Past 365 days	36,471 quakes	17,609	2,685	353	58	2	-	1
Past 3 years	151,467 quakes	69,119	11,681	1,339	170	11	4	1
Past 10 years	468,603 quakes	205,719	37,337	4,397	464	41	9	2

[smaller] [bigger]

Filter by magnitude:

all

1.0+

2.0+

3.0+

in sec

Showing most recent quakes and quakes magnitude 0.5 or higher, within up to 100 km (62 mi) distance (175 quakes):

Latest quakes in or near California, USA, in the past 24 hours on Sunday, December 8, 2024 - list, stats and map
Date and Time	Mag Depth	Location	Details
Dec 7, 04:07 pm (GMT -8)	0.8 8.1 km	22 km SSE of Twentynine Palms, CA	Info
Dec 7, 04:01 pm (GMT -8)	0.6 14 km	22 km ESE of Anza, CA	Info
Saturday, December 7, 2024 GMT (173 quakes)
Dec 7, 04:59 pm (Los Angeles)	0.4 1.6 km	7 km WNW of Cobb, CA	Info
Dec 7, 03:52 pm (Los Angeles)	1.1 6.3 km	7 km NW of Ocotillo Wells, CA	Info
Dec 7, 04:22 pm (Los Angeles)	0.8 3.4 km	6 km NNW of The Geysers, CA	Info
Dec 7, 04:17 pm (Los Angeles)	1.2 8.2 km	22 km SSE of Twentynine Palms, CA	Info
Dec 7, 04:17 pm (Los Angeles)	0.8 13 km	17 km ESE of Anza, CA	Info
Dec 7, 03:06 pm (Los Angeles)	0.7 11 km	3 km ESE of Lake Henshaw, CA	Info
Dec 7, 03:57 pm (Los Angeles)	0.7 7.2 km	4 km SSW of Aguanga, CA	Info

About these data

California Quake-O-Meter

Has seismic activity increased or decreased?

Number of quakes: -

Number of quakes vs average

Seismic Activity: ? %

Seismic activity vs average

Below average

Normal range

Above average

Updated

See Quake Stats

Felt a quake? Report it!

Show quakes near me!

Earthquake statistics

Average number of earthquakes

Based on data from the past 14 years and our earthquake archive back to 1900, there are about 45,000 quakes on average per year in or near California, USA:

Mag. 7 or higher: 0.17 quakes per year (or 1 quake every 5.9 years)
Mag. 6 or higher: 1.07 quakes per year
Mag. 5 or higher: 4.8 quakes per year
Mag. 4 or higher: 54 quakes per year (or 4.5 quakes per month)
Mag. 3 or higher: 497 quakes per year (or 41 quakes per month)
Mag. 2 or higher: 4,200 quakes per year (or 11.4 quakes per day)
Mag. 1 or higher: 25,000 quakes per year (or 68 quakes per day)

California has a moderate level of seismic activity. However, California has had at least 21 quakes above magnitude 7 since 1900, which suggests that larger earthquakes of this size occur infrequently, probably on average approximately every 5 to 10 years.

Detailed stats