4.7 quake near LAX is felt across wide area

A 5.0 earthquake struck southeast of Los Angeles International Airport this evening, causing significant shaking across Southern California. [Update: Quake was downgraded to 4.7.]

The temblor hit about 8:30 p.m. a mile from the South Bay community of Lennox. 

There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, but authorities said they were receiving numerous calls about the temblor.

A 3.0 aftershock occurred a few minutes later near Lennox.

Check out the USGS quake map.

Update at 8:58 p.m.: The temblor started about 8.4 miles below the surface, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Residents in the Lennox area said china fell off shelves, but there were no reports of more serious damage. The Los Angeles Fire Department is on "emergency quake mode" as a precaution.

It's unclear what fault the quake struck on. The Newport-Inglewood fault, which has produced several powerful temblors, runs through that general area.

Updated at 9:10 p.m.: An initial assessment by the Los Angeles Fire Department found "no major structural damage, no serious injuries," according to spokesman Brian Humphrey's Twitter feed. 

Updated at 9:20 p.m.: At the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Lennox station, deputies said the shaking was brief but intense. "It was pretty strong but over in about 10 seconds," said Lt. Kent Wegener. "There are no [immediate] reports of damage. At this point, we are checking all the critical facilities and getting our ducks in a row." 

Los Angeles County Fire officials also said they had not received damage reports in residential or industrial areas, including the coastal refineries.

Update at 9:35 p.m.:KCAL interviewed moviegoers at a shopping mall in Redondo Beach who said the quake shook the screen and caused some ceiling tiles to fall. But firefighters said there was no serious damage or injuries. KCAL also reported numerous burglar alarms going off and some people cutting themselves on glass.

Updated at 9:50 p.m.: In Hawthorne, firefighters were called to Chadron Avenue, near Crenshaw Boulevard, where a light pole was damaged during the earthquake. One man also suffered a heart attack, but it was unclear whether that was connected. “Luckily, nothing major so far,” said Hawthorne Police Lt. Michael Ishii.

The earthquake was “a bit deep,” said U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Susan Hough – originating 8.4 miles below the surface. “That tends to make it less sharp – less of a jerky, abrupt motion,” Hough said. As a result, most of the region felt the quake largely as a rolling motion, though some closer to the center felt more of a jolt.

Lucy Jones, seismologist at the U.S. Geological Survey, said  the earthquake appears to be consistent with a rupture on the Newport-Inglewood fault. (She said the quake was too small to break the surface, so they can't definitively identify faults.) Jones said this fault isn't typically thought to be capable of producing a major quake like the San Andreas fault. But it was responsible for the 1933 Long Beach earthquake, which measured about 6.3 in magnitude. The Long Beach quake was about as big as seismologists expect from this fault, she said.

"There have been numerous magnitude 3s on it over the years, a cluster of them in the 1980s," she said. "In general, it's an active area."

The quake was initially logged as a magnitude 5 by automatic sensors, but as more data came in, seismologists downgraded it to a magnitude 4.7. It also had an aftershock with a magnitude 3.1 about six minutes later. So far, Jones said, 12,000 people have reported feeling the shaking, including some people in San Diego. She was not surprised at the number of people reporting because the quake shook a pretty densely populated area.

Nothing about the quake or its aftershocks looked unusual, she said. "It’s a real garden variety California earthquake so far."

 What’s notable about it is location with respect to people.

She said the most similar earthquake to this one was a temblor that shook the Inglewood area in 1920, and that one was classified as a "minor damaging shock."

--Shelby Grad, Scott Gold, Jia-Rui Chong and Andrew Blankstein

Photo: Employees of a Starbucks at Hawthorne and Artesia Boulevards clean up broken glass that shattered on the floor and reportedly injured one person who was taken to a nearby hospital. (Jay Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Comments

[Woodland Hills]

There were two contrasts in this particular quake. First, it felt like the earth was doing a deep burp ... almost an implosion of sorts. The actual shaking, however, was minor.

[Lidia83090]

Felt it here in Whittier!
I was laying on my bed, twittering away, when i felt it. i just thought someone moved my bed. I didnt freak out to much. but it defiantly freaked out my mother and older sister.

[Sebastian]

Exciting shaking started fast here in Ladera...about 3 miles east of LAX. My girlfriends cat fell off the balcony and into a wood chipper though...poor ol' cat =(

...ok, the cat didnt really fall, i just dont have any interesting story to tell.

[A]

Felt it in Ontario.... Seconds before my cat came up to me stared at me started meowing non stop... Jumped towards a window .. and then BAM! I must admit... I love these little shakers once in a while... I'll pass on a big one tho'

[i3ii3o]

felt it in El Monte,just 5 second......

[Jacquie]

We felt it here in Redondo Beach. It was my first big earthquake, and I was standing, holding my baby and trying to keep balance. It was frightening. I'm still a little shaken up. I hope that's the last time I feel a strong earthquake.

[Beckham Fernandez]

MId-City L.A.: Whoa! Felt the shake a few weeks ago, but this one freaked me out! Realized I need to strengthen my earthquake escape plan - like I need to get one, period. I'm a NorthEast transplant. I'm still shaking an hour later. News says it could be a foreshock. WTF?!? Will be sleeping with the phone in hand tonight.

[JB]

Near MarinaDel Rey- ten seconds of train rolling through- no damage in old single family house. That was a loud one though!

[elliot jay]

nice shake in la jolla!

[Lynn Hewitt]

I was in the New Beverly watching The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) when we felt it. Our seats started shaking and my initial reaction was "special effects??". If you are familiar with the film then you should remember the scene where Klaatu sets his 'stop all things electronic' motion into action- that is EXACTLY when our seats started to rumble! It was pretty freaky! A few folks even ran from the theater.

[MMM]

Felt it in north San Diego. Was my first earthquake. Scary.

[pearl]

i felt it in riverside when i was watching TV, still felt something a few minutes ago. very scary, don' know whether i should go to bed now...

[dee]

I'm about five miles from the epicentre but it was nothing scary, some moderate wavy motion, nothing fell, no damage. I'm surprised to hear that Long Beach had more damage but are farther away.

[jk]

felt it here in my rickety old apt bldg in alhambra. lasted a few rumbling seconds. i got under my metal desk just in case. a dog barked. it was kind scary. i hope everyone's allright.

[lwps]

Are you sure your are in Hollywood Hollywood, and not in Echo Park?

[vinn]

Felt it here in New York City. Hell of a jolt. And what's with the overuse of the word 'temblor' anyway? Showing off your fancy word skills, you dadgurn coastal liberal elites!

[Aron]

My wife and I were seeing "Lydia" at the Taper. During the quake, a light fell from the ceiling onto the stage. They stopped the production for a few minutes, then resumed. Pretty wild.

[Charlie]

The dog was shaking here in Riverside.

[Howard]

Felt like a helicopter was landing on the house here at Pico and Robertson. House shook for a good 10 seconds. Then the little guys that followed. What a night.

[Karl Maria Fattig]

Felt it strongly in Downtown Disney/Anaheim. Folks diving under tables in the restaurant... then back to dinner. More tacos to crunch.

[chuy]

not too strong but yeah we felt it here in Tijuana too

[Marie]

My very first earthquake. I was so scared since all my loved ones are in NY. I was on the internet and all of a sudden I heard this loud noise followed by shaking. At first, I thought it was the neighbors kids hitting things against the wall. Then my entire apartment shook. I tried to call my mom and my cell wouldn't work. I was so frightened. Thank Jehovah God it was very brief followed by a little aftershock. Glad that's over with. Hope and pray that everyone is well.

[nacinla]

Total surprise: I got home to a friend's call asking if I had felt the earthquake. I was driving home from the Gold's Gym downtown at the time it happened. Didn't feel a thing!

[JM]

I am on the thrd floor of my condo building in Long Beach. The place shook violently for a short time. It knocked items off of my bookcases.

[WTL]

Well, we were watching The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, so we were a little confused at first (plus we live in Silver Lake, so you understand...), but as soon as I paused the movie we were able to distinguish the earthquake from the movie. I'm not sure which was more fun. Our old house on a steep hill rattled and shook and creaked, but that's normal on a windy day or when you slam a door. We waited to see if the world would end, and when it didn't, we went back to the movie - in which the earth really was destroyed (but it didn't matter because not only was it only pretend destroyed but there was an emergency backup Earth).

And I don't believe I've ever seen a tackier news crew than Channel 9's. Those people simply cannot be journalists. Unbelievable for such a major market. Who owns that station? Larry Flynt?