LOS ANGELES — A 5.1 earthquake centered at LaHabra near
Los Angeles rolled Southern California Friday evening.
The strong earthquake was felt widely across the region
shortly after 9 p.m. PT. It was felt as far south as San Diego and as far north
as Ventura County, according to citizen responses collected online by The U.S.
Geological Survey.
The USGS said the epicenter was one mile from Brea, located
in Orange County about 20 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, and three
miles from Rowland Heights and Fullerton.
It was followed by a series of smaller aftershocks over the
next 45 minutes. At least five aftershocks ranging from magnitudes 2.7 to 3.6
were recorded, according to the USGS.
The 5.1 quake was preceded by two foreshocks, a 3.6 quake an
hour earlier as well as a 2.1 quake.
The larger quake triggered a rockslide that closed Carbon
Canyon Road in northern Orange County near the center of the quake, the
California Highway Patrol and Brea police reported.
A broken water main in Fullerton, not far from the center of
the quake, was attributed to the temblor, the Orange County Register reported
in a tweet. Public safety officials said crews were inspecting bridges, dams
and other infrastructure systems for signs of damage.
Callers to KNX-AM reported seeing a brick wall collapse,
water sloshing in a swimming pool, and wires and trees swaying back and forth.
One caller said he was in a movie theater lobby in Brea when the quake struck.
"A lot of the glass in the place shook like
crazy," he said. "It started like a roll and then it started
shaking
like crazy. Everybody ran outside, hugging each other in the streets."
Tom Connolly, a Boeing employee who lives in La Mirada, the
next town over from La Habra, said the 5.1 quake lasted about 30 seconds.
"We felt a really good jolt. It was a long rumble and
it just didn't feel like it would end," he told The Associated Press by
phone. "Right in the beginning it shook really hard, so it was a little
unnerving. People got quiet and started bracing themselves by holding on to
each other. It was a little scary."
"Tonight's earthquake is the second in two weeks, and
reminds us to be prepared," L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said in an official
statement. "The Los Angeles Police and Fire Departments have conducted an
assessment and report no damage in the city."
U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Lucy Jones at CalTech in
Pasadena told the Los Angeles Times that the 5.1 quake has a
5% chance of being a foreshock of an even larger quake. "There could be
even a larger earthquake in the next few hours or the next few days," she
said.
Friday's quake hit a week after a pre-dawn magnitude-4.4
quake centered in the San Fernando Valley rattled a swath of Southern
California. That jolt shook buildings and rattled nerves, but did not cause
significant damage.
Southern California has not experienced a damaging
earthquake since the 1994 magnitude-6.7 Northridge quake killed several dozen
people and caused $25 billion in damage.
