California.- Millions of people in Southern California were shaken Monday afternoon by a magnitude 4.4 earthquake, although no significant damage was reported, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake struck at 12:20 p.m. and was centered outside Pasadena, about five miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles, the agency said.
“It was a pretty strong shake,” said Susan Hough, a USGS seismologist who was on the California Institute of Technology campus in Pasadena when the quake hit. “It was clearly a decent shake, though not huge.”
The quake, followed two minutes later by a magnitude 2.1 aftershock, was felt more than 100 miles away in Bakersfield, San Diego and Joshua Tree National Park, according to the USGS. The epicenter of the quake was in El Sereno, a small neighborhood northeast of Los Angeles.
Ms. Hough said scientists were still unsure which fault had produced the quake, although it appeared to be close to the Puente Hills fault, which runs through the Los Angeles basin into northern Orange County. This fault, discovered in 1999, can produce devastating earthquakes, scientists say, and was responsible for the 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake that killed eight people.
Margaret Stewart, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Fire Department, said there had been no initial reports of widespread damage from Monday’s quake as of midafternoon. Firefighters from each of the city’s 106 fire stations were driving through their districts to assess the effects, she said, and would soon be able to provide more detailed assessments.
The California Highway Patrol also said it had not received any reports of accidents or damage related to the earthquake.
In the Highland Park area of Los Angeles, near the center of the quake, rumbling and shaking were heard in homes, followed by several seconds of strong, sustained shaking. A kitchen cabinet door flew open in one home, though all its contents remained inside. Residents gathered on a street, babies and dogs in tow, marveling at the intensity of the quake, though no one reported any damage.
Not far away in Silver Lake, during a cycling class, bikes swayed slightly, giving some riders a dizzy feeling, but the class continued. As they left the gym, students compared text messages from friends and family asking if they were safe.
A video posted on X showed ESPN’s studio in downtown Los Angeles shaking during a live broadcast. A water pipe burst at Pasadena City Hall, authorities said.
The quake came less than a week after another tremor shook Los Angeles. On August 6, a moderately strong 5.2 magnitude quake centered near Bakersfield shook a wide swath of Southern California.
“From the data we’re getting, the shaking was just strong enough to maybe knock some things off the shelves – that was the peak shaking we’re seeing,” Ms Hough said of Monday’s quake. “It wasn’t strong enough to cause any damage.”
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