A 4.4 magnitude earthquake was strongly felt Monday afternoon, shaking buildings, rattling dishes, and triggering car alarms from the Los Angeles area to San Diego along the U.S.-Mexico border. Despite the intensity, no major damage or injuries were immediately reported.
Monday’s earthquake was centered near the Los Angeles neighborhood of Highland Park, approximately 6.5 miles northeast of Los Angeles City Hall and around 7.5 miles beneath the surface, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake was felt from the greater Los Angeles area down to San Diego and as far east as the Palm Springs desert region, as reported on the USGS community reporting page. A few reports also came from the southern San Joaquin Valley, about 100 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
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The tremor shook a medical building, interrupted a live interview on ESPN, and caused the ground to sway in Anaheim, where Disneyland is located in Orange County. In the historic L.A. neighborhood of Laurel Canyon, home to many celebrities, dishes rattled, and TV news helicopters captured footage of water spilling from an upper floor of Pasadena City Hall, a grand domed building dating back to 1927 that was seismically retrofitted in the 2000s.
However, this quake primarily acted as a reminder of the potential risks in a state where a large population resides above active fault lines.
“Having lived through the Northridge earthquake , today’s tremor made me flash back to what we know are lifesaving rules during an earthquake: drop, cover, and hold on. It was also a reminder to us all that we live in earthquake country and we need to be prepared,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger.
The National Weather Service confirmed that a tsunami was not anticipated, and the USGS revised its initial estimate of the quake’s magnitude from 4.6. The Los Angeles Fire Department reported no immediate damage or injuries as it conducted citywide infrastructure assessments.
Richard Egan was having lunch with colleagues on the second floor of an office building near Long Beach Airport, located about 20 miles south of the quake’s epicenter, when a sudden jolt occurred. “It got really quiet,” he said, “and we waited for a bigger quake to follow.”
Egan estimated that the rolling lasted about 45 seconds. Once the shaking stopped, he and his colleagues resumed their lunchtime conversation. Having experienced numerous quakes in his 59 years in Southern California, Egan considered this one to be average in intensity.
The quake occurred on the first school day for the Los Angeles Unified School District. At least one high school, John Marshall in Los Feliz, notified parents that they had evacuated the buildings to inspect for damage, but found none immediately.
The earthquake occurred less than a week after a 5.2 magnitude tremor struck southern California, which was also widely felt in Los Angeles. That earlier quake resulted in no injuries or significant damage.
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