4.4 magnitude earthquake hits Los Angeles, Highland Park area, USGS says

HIGHLAND PARK, LOS ANGELES (KABC) — A magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck a closely populated part of Los Angeles County on Monday, shaking buildings and leaving residents rattled all through the area.

There have been no reviews of main harm or accidents, however shaking was felt from San Diego County to Simi Valley and out to Victorville and Redlands, in accordance with a U.S. Geological Survey map.

These residing closest to the quake shared movies of a serious jolt and rattling that elicited just a few screams and despatched frightened pets scrambling.

“It was very, very scary,” mentioned Kyle Shearer of Highland Park. “It is not my first but it surely’s most likely the scariest I’ve had in a very long time.”

The quake struck round 12:20 p.m. at a depth of practically six miles. The epicenter was situated in Highland Park.

It initially registered as a 4.7 magnitude earthquake, however was shortly downgraded.

“It was a jolt,” mentioned Christine Chandler, a professor at Martha Fuerst Faculty of Nursing in Glendale. “After which the constructing simply began to shake violently. It wasn’t these good roll-y ones we get. I needed to maintain on to the door jamb.”

The L.A. county and metropolis fireplace departments activated earthquake mode to survey the area for harm, significantly to infrastructure. Los Angeles metropolis fireplace concluded earthquake mode at 1:15 p.m. with no findings of injury.

Some minor harm was reported in Pasadena, only some miles from the epicenter.

A pipe broke at Pasadena Metropolis Corridor, sending a stream of water flowing out onto the sidewalk. About 200 workers had been evacuated from the constructing.

Pasadena Hearth Division Deputy Chief Anthony James mentioned the water leak was the results of a sprinkler head breaking on the high of town corridor rotunda. Firefighters had been finally in a position to shut off the pipeline.

And one particular person was briefly trapped in an elevator within the constructing. Firefighters had been in a position to shortly free that particular person.

Firefighters had been additionally testing a report of a damaged fuel line however hadn’t confirmed if it was earthquake-related.

James mentioned he felt the sturdy jolt.

“I occurred to be out driving,” James mentioned. “I used to be parked subsequent to a bus. It felt like the entire floor was going away from below me. I assumed what was that? And shortly figured it out.”

The division, he mentioned, shortly went into earthquake mode. That meant sending firefighters out into the group to survey for harm. They didn’t discover every other main points.

Seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones mentioned for a lot of Southern Californians, the shaking felt stronger than different earthquakes they’ve skilled lately – and will have appeared extra extreme then the 4.4 measurement. That is as a result of most of the earthquakes the area sees hit much less densely populated areas and do not feel as sturdy as soon as they attain the city core.

“There’s lots of people on high of this earthquake,” Jones mentioned. “The opposite earthquakes you’ve got been feeling …. that is since you had been farther away.”

It is tough to pinpoint the precise fault concerned, she mentioned.

“This space has a community of buried faults, so it is not one thing that exhibits up on the floor. The identical community was concerned within the 1987 Whittier Narrows quake, however precisely whether or not it is the identical strand, as a result of it is difficult and at depth, we’ll by no means have the ability to say,” Jones mentioned.