EARTHQUAKEM3.2

M3.2 earthquake near Signal Hill, California

Map: the earthquake near Signal Hill, California, with plate boundaries

A magnitude 3.2 earthquake struck 1 mi (2 km) southwest of Signal Hill, California on Friday, October 9, 2026 at 07:44 UTC, at a depth of 7 mi (12 km), according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Shallow quakes like this one shake the surface hardest.

1,091 people reported feeling it to USGS “Did You Feel It?”.

MagnitudeM3.2
Depth7 mi (12 km)
Time (UTC)Oct 9 07:44
Location33.79°N 118.18°W
Nearest townSignal Hill · 2 km
Energy1 tons TNT
Aftershocks M2.5+0
Tsunami flagNo
Felt reports1,091
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Why here?

This earthquake struck about 51 mi (82 km) from the boundary between the North American and Pacific plates. Most earthquakes happen along plate boundaries like this one, where the pieces of Earth’s outer shell collide, pull apart or grind past each other. Stress builds up over years until the rock suddenly slips.

The red lines on the map are plate boundaries.

Shaking and impact

The strongest shaking USGS estimates was intensity 4 on the Modified Mercalli scale: light.

How strong was it?

Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step releases about 32 times more energy. This magnitude 3.2 released roughly the energy of 1 tons of TNT. The strongest earthquake ever recorded, magnitude 9.5 in Chile in 1960, released about 2,800,000,000 times more than this one.

Aftershocks

In the first 17 days after it, USGS recorded no smaller earthquakes of magnitude 2.5 or more within 62 mi (100 km).

Earthquake history here

Before this earthquake, USGS had recorded 35 earthquakes of magnitude 6 or larger within 300 km (186 mi) since 1900. The strongest:

Official details, updates and the shaking map: USGS event page.

See every earthquake on October 9, 2026 or earthquakes by day.

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