Magnitude 4.2 earthquake, multiple aftershocks shake Los Angeles area
A magnitude 4.2 earthquake and multiple aftershocks struck near Malibu in the Los Angeles area early Wednesday morning.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the initial 4.2-magnitude quake occurred just offshore about 10 miles south of Malibu Beach at 2 a.m. PST. The depth of the earthquake was about 9.2 miles.
“My bed shook — hard enough to make me leap out of it, actually, and run over to the living room,” said FOX Weather Correspondent Max Gorden, who is based in Ventura. “Whenever an earthquake hits in the middle of the night a part of you wonders if it was just a dream, so I hopped on Twitter and sure enough a lot of local LA journalists had tweeted they had felt it…and it wasn’t just my imagination.”
Some three minutes after the first quake, a magnitude 3.5 aftershock was reported in nearly the same spot at a depth of about 8 miles.
That was followed by 2.8-magnitude and 2.6-magnitude aftershocks at 2:22 a.m. and 2:38 a.m. PST, respectively.
“As I was trying to fall asleep again, I felt a smaller quake,” Gorden said.
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The quake was weak enough that there is no tsunami threat despite the earthquakes striking so close to the Southern California coastline, according to the National Weather Service.
The Los Angeles Fire Department spent about 45 minutes in “Earthquake Mode” after the quake in which all 106 fire stations completed “a strategic 470 square-mile survey of the City of Los Angeles… examining all major areas of concern (transportation infrastructures, large places of assemblages, apartment buildings, power-lines, etc.,” according to LAFD officials. “No damage or injuries were reported and normal operational mode has resumed.”
The FOX Forecast Center had not received any immediate reports of damage or injuries either. According to the USGS, damage typically doesn’t occur until the earthquake magnitude reaches above 4 or 5.
Anyone who felt Wednesday morning’s earthquakes is asked by the USGS to submit a brief report at this website.
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