4.4 earthquake in Los Angeles

Doctor Q

Doctor Q

Administrator
Staff member
I was awakened by shaking at 4:04 am this morning. It was a moderate earthquake, Richter magnitude 4.4. The epicenter was one mile north of Pico Rivera, California, 11 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, along the Whittier fault, where there was a 5.9 quake in 1987. This quake must have relieved some built-up stress along that fault, which is good.

At the epicenter people reported a jolt and about 20 seconds of rolling. I felt the rolling and heard some far away noise, perhaps dogs barking.

A 4.4 quake isn't big enough to cause much damage or injury, although there are reports of things falling off shelves. It's equivalent to the total energy of an average tornado or 5100 tons of TNT, but it's over a wide enough area to disperse most of that energy.

The best news: our Macs are fine!
 
Wow... glad you (and the Macs) are fine

Will check with other friends out there, but hopefully all is well
 
That Whittier quake you mentioned was my first memorable California earthquake. Little did I know how many more (and much larger) ones I'd experience in later years.

Here's hoping that stress-release has helped avoid a larger one.
 
According to world-renowned expert on the cause of natural disasters Fred Phelps Earthquakes tend to occur when Teh Gheys™ are getting busy in the bedroom.
 
OK, heard from my friend in LA... very close to them, but they are fine
Said it was a real shaker for them though
 
Doctor Q said:
Were you damaged? ;)

Why do they bother building amusement parks in California? Nature gives us a free ride every now and then.

Is it really true that earthquakes happen equally at all times of day? It seems to me that almost all of them here are early in the morning.
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Nah, I was in Woodland Hills but it was really unlucky that I was home alone when it happened. I was 10 and my mom left shortly before to do a quick errand and whatdoyaknow, earthquake. It was weird and unnerving.

You're right, most of the So Cal earthquakes I've felt did seem to go off in the morning. Nothing quite like the Northridge wake-up call though. :eek:
 
Weird. I woke up @ 4 to take a shower to study for my Physics final (which is in 2.5 hours) and I didn't feel anything. Who knows, maybe I was half asleep in the shower and couldn't notice it.
FYI - im in Riverside.
 
There's now a report of damage to the 5 Freeway, most likely a result of the earthquake. A bit of pavement collapsed. The morning commute will be worse than usual because a couple of lanes are closed. It's not even 6am yet but there's already a big line of cars backed up.

The epicenter was along the 605 Freeway. The 5 Freeway is just west of the 605 at that point.
 
BTW, is it true they've issued a Tsunami warning in New Zealand? They're predicting waves of up to two inches!! :D
 
I also slept though it. Glad it wasn't bigger. The first thing I imagine, is my iMac G4 under a pile of debris. *cringe* My Mac Pro can take it, but that beautiful iMac.... *tears roll down cheeks*

Oh yeah, the wife's safety is a concern too...
 
I was sleeping at 4:04am and i'm located at inglewood.....many UCLA, UC Irvine and UC Riverside Students who are in southern california, where sleeping....or studying for finals.....


it's finals week...!!!!!!!!! spring break is around the corner....!!! ( i had to get that out!):D


ohhh and the 405 freeway is fine :D traffic as usual...meh
 
Phsss 4.4 is nothing.

When its 5.5 or above thats when its newsworthy.

North Cali here, been through the Northridge and the Loma Prieta earthquakes.

But who knows when the 'big one' will hit.
 
When LA falls into the Pacific, give me a call.

Until then, I could care less...in fact...if you arent a 2nd or 3rd world country dealing with a natural disaster, its not even worth noting.

:rolleyes:
 
;)
BittenApple said:
.

North Cali here, been through the Northridge and the Loma Prieta earthquakes.

But who knows when the 'big one' will hit.
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F.Y.I The Northridge Earthquake was in Southern California not NoCal. Northern California is consider to many Californians anything above San Berdandino or Fresno.
 
leomac08 said:
;)


F.Y.I The Northridge Earthquake was in Southern California not NoCal. Northern California is consider to many Californians anything above San Berdandino or Fresno.
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I lived in SoCal as well :)

My point is that a 4.4 earthquake doesn't concern me, they are pretty common.
 
I toured the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose when I was there the other week. As a widow, she spent over 30 years remodeling her house because a fortune teller told her that building and never finishing her house would protect her from spirits that were out to get her.

Mrs. Winchester was trapped in one part of that house in the huge 1906 earthquake, with walls that warped so she couldn't open the door of the room. Eventually her workers got her out, but she was sure that bad spirits inhabited that part of the house so she abandoned that whole wing and lived in other parts of the house for the rest of her life. The earthquake-damaged rooms are still there with their broken walls!

According to Cal Tech, today's small quake was not caused by evil spirits.
 
Queso said:
BTW, is it true they've issued a Tsunami warning in New Zealand? They're predicting waves of up to two inches!! :D
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*Runs for hills* :eek:

Seriously, when there's a real tsunami, people are going to ignore the warning due to the sheer amount of "crying wolf" that happens here. I'll probably ignore it too. Fortunately I actually live up a hill :)
 
Sister just moved back from LA on Sunday, though it sounds like it wasn't so serious anyway.

We'll all be dead in less than 2 years so what's it matter I guess :( :p
 
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