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, based on a U.S. Geological Survey map.

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

“It was very, very scary,” mentioned Kyle Shearer of Highland Park. “It isn’t my first however it’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 almost 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 College 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 hearth departments activated earthquake mode to survey the area for harm, significantly to infrastructure. Los Angeles metropolis hearth concluded earthquake mode at 1:15 p.m. with no findings of harm.

Some minor harm was reported in Pasadena, just a few 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 individual was briefly trapped in an elevator within the constructing. Firefighters had been in a position to rapidly 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 robust 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 beneath me. I believed what was that? And rapidly figured it out.”

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

Seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones supplied data on the faults within the space the place the earthquake hit.

“This space has a community of buried faults, so it isn’t 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 sophisticated and at depth, we’ll by no means be capable to say,” Jones mentioned.