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A magnitude 2.6 earthquake hit off the coast of Orange County this afternoon.
The small temblor caused no damage or injuries and occurred about 11 miles off the coast of Dana Point and about 12 miles from Laguna Beach, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The quake occurred about 2:14 p.m., and it remains unclear whether it was felt on land.
-- Shelby Grad
A 3.1 earthquake hit the Loma Linda area Saturday night, but there were no reports of damage or injuries.
The quake occurred around 11 p.m. Saturday, about 55 miles east of downtown Los Angeles and about two miles from Loma Linda in San Bernardino County.
It was felt over a large swath of the region, including Perris. Riverside, San Bernardino, Colton and Moreno Valley.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey's "Did You Feel It?" survey, residents as far away as Los Angeles, San Diego and Laguna Beach reported feeling the temblor.
-- Shelby Grad
The California-Mexico border area was struck by a swarm of small earthquakes, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
A 3.8 temblor hit south of Calexico about 12:54 a.m., followed by two 3.2 quakes over the next several hours. The last for those quakes hit in Mexico, about 11 miles from Mexicali and 17 miles from Tijuana.
There were also numerous smaller quakes. This same area was hit by a 4.0 quake this month.
No injuries and damage were reported.
According to the USGS, the quake swarm was felt in parts of San Diego and Imperial counties.
-- Shelby Grad
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A small earthquake struck this morning in the Gulf of Santa Catalina, but no damage has been reported.
The 3.9-magnitude quake hit at 6:34 a.m., 30 miles southeast of San Clemente Island and 43 miles south of Avalon on Catalina Island, according to a preliminary report by the U.S. Geological Survey.
[Updated at 9:50 a.m.: According to the U.S. Geological Survey's "Did You Feel It?" site, the temblor was felt in San Diego, Irvine, Laguna Beach, Escondido and as far north as Rancho Palos Verdes.]
In January, a 4.2 temblor hit near San Clemente Island, in the general vicinity of the today's quake.]
-- Baxter Holmes
A 3.7 magnitude earthquake struck close to Big Bear Lake at 7:55 a.m. today and was followed a few minutes later by a 2.4 magnitude aftershock. No damage was reported.
The epicenter was seven miles north of Big Bear City and 80 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, according to seismologists at the National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colo.
The aftershock, in the same region, occurred at 7:58 a.m. San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputies reported feeling a rolling motion during the first quake. But the office received few calls from the public, said dispatcher Lehua Pahia.
-- Carla Rivera
A large earthquake off the coast of British Columbia this morning does not pose a major tsunami risk for California, according to federal officials.
The magnitude 6.6 temblor struck this morning in the Queen Charlotte Islands region off the west coast of Canada. There was no immediate word of injuries or damage.
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said that "no destructive widespread tsunami threat exists based on historic earthquake and tsunami data."
Two months ago, a temblor on the Pacific Ocean did prompt a warning about possible tsunami activity in Southern California, prompted lifeguards to close some beaches. But any rise in water level was so tiny that no one noticed it.
-- Shelby Grad
A magnitude 4.6 earthquake hit a remote area of San Bernardino County this afternoon.
The temblor struck east of Ridgecrest and north of Barstow at about 1:20 p.m. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
The earthquake was centered near Searles Valley, about 117 miles from downtown Los Angeles.
It's the latest of several quakes to hit the region in the last day.
Earlier this morning, a magnitude 3.6 earthquake hit Riverside County east of Temecula. The temblor did not cause any damage, though it was felt in parts of the Inland Empire. It hit near the small town of Anza in southwestern part of the county.
A 4.3 temblor hit off San Nicholas Island Sunday afternoon, followed by a 3.6 aftershock.
-- Shelby Grad
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A magnitude 3.6 earthquake hit Riverside County east of Temecula.
The temblor did not cause any damage, though it was felt in parts of the Inland Empire. It hit near the small town of Anza in southwestern Riverside County.
It was the third moderate quake to hit Southern California in the last 24 hours. A 4.3 temblor hit off San Nicholas Island Sunday afternoon, followed by a 3.6 aftershock.
Neither of those quakes caused damage or injuries.
-- Shelby Grad
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A 4.3 magnitude earthquake rattled the ocean floor Sunday afternoon 13 miles east-southeast of San Nicolas Island in Ventura County.
The temblor struck at 2:45 p.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey. A 3.6 magnitude aftershock occurred three minutes later.
San Nicolas Island, the most remote of the Channel Islands, has no official population and is used by the Navy as a weapons testing site. There were no reports of damage.
Nick Scheckel, a seismic analyst at Caltech, said the quake occurred more than three miles below the ocean floor and was felt weakly in Santa Monica and Oxnard.
--Alan Zarembo
Map: USGS earthquake map of Southern California dated Sunday, Nov. 14 at 8:30 p.m. The blue squares represent tremblors in the last day and the yellow mark earthquakes in the last week. Credit: USGS
A 4.0 earthquake struck Imperial County, but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
The temblor struck at 11:27 a.m. about nine miles west of Calexico, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. There had been several other smaller quakes in that same area along the U.S.-Mexico border in the last few hours.
The temblor was felt in Imperial County and as far away as Laguna Niguel, San Diego and Fallbrook, according to the USGS.
-- Shelby Grad
Map: USGS
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A 3.3 earthquake struck San Bernardino County this morning, but there were no reports of injuries or damage.
The quake hit at 6:17 a.m. about 10 miles from Yucaipa and 113 miles from Los Angeles.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the temblor was felt in parts of the Inland Empire including Beaumont, Perris, Forest Falls, Highland, Perris, Big Bear Lake and Redlands.
The quake orginated at a depth of 4.7 miles, according to the USGS.
--Shelby Grad
A minor earthquake occurred at 9:53 p.m. today near Oxnard, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The magnitude 3.2 temblor occurred four miles east-southeast of Oxnard at a depth of roughly one mile.
[Updated at 10:10 p.m.: There have been no reports of damage, according to the Oxnard Police Department.]
—Richard Winton
Map: U.S. Geological Survey
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell joined a group of Los Angeles teachers and students this morning in the Great California Shake Out, a statewide earthquake drill that had O’Connell and others seeking cover under tables and desks.
Watching the superintendent dive under a table “was fun to see,” said Lance Webster, spokesman for Earthquake Country Alliance, a statewide organization that serves as a clearinghouse for various groups that provide earthquake information and services. “You don’t always expect to see the big wigs jump under a table when there’s a drill.”
More than 100 students from Lenicia B. Weemes Elementary School participated in the drill at the California Science Center's Wallis Annenberg Building for Science Learning and Innovation. They were among more than 6.8 million people – including 4 million students -- who participated in the drill statewide.
At 10:15 this morning, scores of people across California are expected to participate in what is billed as the largest earthquake drill ever.
The Great California Shakeout
is intended to help people and organizations to prepare and protect
themselves during earthquakes. Last year, nearly 5.5 million people
took part in the drill, according to event organizers.
Schoolchildren will practice the "drop, cover and hold on" drill, and many organizations will go over their emergency plans.
The drill is being staged through a partnership of a number of organizations, including the American Red Cross, California Department of Education and the U.S. Geological Survey.
Last year's drill produced some significant findings.
Data from suggested that about five high-rise steel-framed buildings in the region would have collapsed in the modeled magnitude 7.8 quake. High-rise steel-framed buildings sustained less damage than unreinforced brick and older concrete buildings in the analysis.
A magnitude 2.7 earthquake struck north of Rancho Cucamonga this morning but caused no apparent injuries or damage, authorities said.
The micro quake hit at 10:55 a.m. at a depth of 6 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The strongest quake to hit the area recently was in 2008, when a magnitude 5.4 quake hit near Diamond Bar.
-- Andrew Blankstein
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The investigation into what could be causing a sharp rise in “major blowouts” of Los Angeles water mains has expanded to examine whether tectonic activity might be playing a role.
The L.A. Department of Water and Power have asked scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for help. As it happened, JPL officials were already evaluating ground movement in the Los Angeles Basin because of a several recent minor earthquakes.
Examining the timing and location of the breaks, JPL scientists notice “some deviation from the normal range” of ground movement in L.A. in the last 100 days, said Andrea Donnellan, a geophysicist at JPL.
“We’re trying to understand,” she told The Times.
Donnellan said scientists concluded there has been a change in ground movement by using GPS data from sensors embedded in the ground across the Los Angeles Basin.
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake hit the Eastern Sierra region of California today, but there were no reports of damage or injuries.
The quake struck at about 11:06 a.m. near the town of Keeler in Inyo County.
The quake hit in the same general area as a swarm of temblors last week that rattled Inyo County. Scores of mostly tiny temblors have been recorded in the region over the last week.
-- Shelby Grad
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A swarm of more than 30 earthquakes hit Inyo County this morning, including a 5.1 temblor, but caused no damage or injuries.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, there have been more than 30 temblors centered about seven miles from the tiny town of Keeler, 11 miles from Lone Pine and 148 miles from Las Vegas. While most temblors in the quake swarm were tiny, there were several 3.5 aftershocks to the 5.1 main quake.
If other quake swarms offer a clue, there could be many more quakes in the area before this swarm is over.
Inyo County was struck by a swarm of earthquakes this morning, including a 5.1 temblor around 3 a.m.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, there have been more than 30 temblors centered about seven miles from the tiny town of Keeler, 11 miles from Lone Pine and 148 miles from Las Vegas.
As Los Angeles-area beaches were expecting a possible tidal surge, three Venice surfers paddled out into the darkness to catch some tsunami waves.
[A headline on an earlier version of this post referred to a tsunami warning. It was an tsunami advisory, not a warning.]
The tsunami advisory for California didn't bring major waves, but it offered officials what they considered a welcome opportunity to test their quake-preparation plans.
Since the massive tsunami in the Indian Ocean in 2004, California officials have been beefing up their own preparedness for a tsunami. Tsunami evacuation signs have been installed and plans put into place.
When federal authorities issued a tsunami advisory Tuesday afternoon, officials sprang into action. But the response was uneven. Some agencies said they would close beaches and evacuate marinas, but little of that actually occurred. Lifeguards kept a watchful eye, but life pretty much went on as normal at local beaches.
Dozens of people stood on the Venice Pier around 9 p.m., about the time when the swell was supposed to occur. Many were in a rowdy mood, shouting "tsunami" while three wave riders bobbed in the water.
One of the surfers caught a small wave and rode toward the shore. "I think that was the tsunami!" he shouted out.
Venice resident Luke Patterson smoked a cigarette as he leaned over the side of the pier. He had come to watch his friend surf after they heard about the tsunami advisory on the news.
"So far," he said. "it's pretty anticlimactic."
National Weather Service forecasters in California said they believe rising ocean levels caused by the massive American Samoa earthquake will be mostly felt along the Central Coast, roughly from the Monterey Bay sound to Point Conception in Santa Barbara County.
Officials who issued the tsunami advisory for the Pacific coast said they don't expect major damage. But they predicted the tides will rise 1 to 2 feet in areas such as San Luis Obispo, Morro Bay and Cayucos, said Curt Kaplan of the National Weather Service in Oxnard. In those areas, light damage to boat is a possibility, he said.
Los Angeles County lifeguards said they will clear beaches beginning at 8 p.m. The higher-than-usual tides are expected to hit at roughly 9 p.m. Pacific time.
At King Harbor in Redondo Beach, officials plan to tell boat dwellers in the marina to head for higher ground after 8 p.m. and to make sure nothing is loose on their boats.
“We want them to batten down the hatches, make sure there’s nothing loose on the boats and secure their lines,” said Michael Aaker, president of King Harbor. “We are advising people to have a 9 o’clock dinner up on the hill tonight.”In Seal Beach, where beaches normally close at 10 p.m., officials will close an hour early "just as a precaution," said Marine Safety Chief Joe Bailey. "We want the beach to be empty just in case anything happens," he said. "We don't want any crowds."
L.A. County lifeguards will be clearing beaches around 8 p.m. in response to a tsunami advisory for the California coast issued after a 7.9 temblor in American Samoa.
Officials said that they don't believe coastal regions are likely to suffer much damage but that some beaches could see higher-than-usual tides about 9 p.m. Pacific time.
At King Harbor in Redondo Beach, officials plan to tell boat dwellers in the marina to head for higher ground after 8 p.m. and to make sure nothing is loose on their boats.
Los Angeles County Lifeguard Capt. Terry Harvey said fire officials were notified of the advisory around 3:30 p.m.
He said protocols were initiated including notifying field units to provide extra patrols in affected areas and to report any change in tides, surges or conditions.
Federal officials issued a tsunami advisory for the California coast after a 7.9 temblor struck American Samoa earlier today.
Officials said that they don't believe coastal regions are likely to suffer much damage but that some beaches could see higher-than-usual tides about 9 p.m. Pacific time. Curt Kaplan of the National Weather Service in Oxnard said the seismic activity could bring waves a foot higher than normal.
"This is an advisory, not a warning," he said. "But if I were on the [immediate] coast, I would move inland."
He said "light fluctuation in tides and currents" are expected and could last for several hours.
A magnitude 7.9 earthquake struck in Pacific Ocean near American Samoa today, but officials have not issued a tsunami warning for the California coast.
The temblor hit about 10:48 p.m. PDT, and there was no immediate word of injuries or damage.
Federal authorities said it's unclear whether the quake formed a tsunami -- but even if it did, there is no danger to the Pacific coast of California, Oregon or Washington at this time.
Officials did issue a watch for the Hawaiian Islands as well as other island areas, including New Zealand and New Guinea.
American Samoa is more than 4,000 miles from Los Angeles.
-- Shelby Grad
A magnitude 2.6 earthquake was recorded tonight three miles southwest of Valencia; it caused no apparent damages or injuries, authorities said.
The quake, about 5 miles southwest of Saugus, struck at 10:12 p.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department station in Santa Clarita said there were no reports of damage or injuries.
--Robert J. Lopez
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