By Soumya Karlamangla and Jill Cowan
Millions across Southern California were rattled Monday afternoon by a 4.4-magnitude earthquake, though there were no reports of significant damage, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The earthquake hit at 12:20 p.m. and was centered just outside of Pasadena, about 5 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles, according to the agency.
“It was a pretty good jolt,” said Susan Hough, a seismologist with the USGS who was on the California Institute of Technology campus in Pasadena when the earthquake struck. “It was clearly a decent shake, though not huge.”
The earthquake, which was followed two minutes later by a 2.1-magnitude aftershock, was felt more than 100 miles away in Bakersfield, San Diego and Joshua Tree National Park, according to the USGS. The earthquake’s epicenter was in El Sereno, a small neighborhood in northeast Los Angeles.
Hough said that scientists were not yet sure which fault had produced the earthquake, though it appeared close to the Puente Hills Fault, which runs through the Los Angeles basin into northern Orange County. The fault line, discovered in 1999, can produce devastating earthquakes, scientists say, and was responsible for the 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake that killed eight people.
As of midafternoon, there had been no initial reports of widespread damage from Monday’s quake, said Margaret Stewart, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Fire Department. Firefighters from each of the city’s 106 fire stations were driving through their districts to survey any effects, she said, and would soon be able to provide more detailed assessments.
The California Highway Patrol also said that it hadn’t received any reports of accidents or damage related to the quake.
In Pasadena, the leafy suburb not far from the center of the quake, students in local schools who were back for their first day of the new year got a real-life “drop, hold and cover” drill, though there were no reports of injuries or damage, said Lisa Derderian, a spokesperson for the city.
At Houston’s, a bustling power lunch spot where Derderian was eating, she said, the couple of hundred diners in the restaurant suddenly stopped their conversations as the temblor rattled the room.
“It was silent, which you would never hear there,” she said. “People looked around, then resumed eating.”
Derderian said city crews were dispatched to survey for damage. Where they found it was City Hall.
The old, ornate building, recognizable for its facade’s numerous appearances in movies, was finished in 1927 but was retrofitted for earthquake safety in 2007, Derderian said.
Nevertheless, she said, a pipe there burst during Monday’s temblor and was spewing water from the third story down the outside of the building for about 45 minutes. The elevators stopped automatically, trapping one person who was quickly rescued.
The pipe break triggered the building’s fire alarm, Derderian said, so the building was evacuated and city employees stood in the heat for the better part of an hour. There was no evidence of structural damage, she said.
Derderian said she hoped that the temblor, coupled with the one last week, would remind people to prepare for the bigger earthquake that has long been expected. On Aug. 6, a moderately strong, 5.2-magnitude quake centered near Bakersfield rattled a wide swath of Southern California.
“We need to make it a priority,” she said.
Across the rest of the northeastern part of Los Angeles, residents said they were startled but largely unharmed.
In the Highland Park neighborhood, thuds and shudders ran through homes, followed by several seconds of powerful and sustained shaking. A kitchen cabinet door flung open in one house, though all of its contents stayed inside. A few residents gathered on one street, babies and dogs in tow, marveling at how intense the quake had felt, though no one reported any damage.
Not far away in Silver Lake during a cycling class, the bikes swayed slightly, giving some riders a woozy feeling, but the class continued. As students left the fitness studio, they compared text messages from friends and family asking if they were safe.
A video posted on the social platform X showed the ESPN studio in downtown Los Angeles shaking during a live broadcast.
“From the data we’re getting, the shaking was just barely strong enough to maybe knock a few things off of shelves — that was the peak shaking we’re seeing,” Hough said. “It wasn’t strong enough to cause damage.”
Comments