Guitz’s Blog

Los Angeles Earthquakes

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A moderate earthquake struck east of Los Angeles on Tuesday, shaking tall buildings in the city but there were no immediate reports of injuries, major damage or power outages.

The earthquake, which struck at 11:42 a.m. local time (2:42 p.m. EDT), was measured at magnitude 5.4 maghitude. It was about 30 miles east of Los Angeles near the community of Chino Hills, where it was felt very strongly.

But witnesses reported feeling the shaking strongly in neighboring Orange County, as far south as San Diego and as far east as Las Vegas. There were no reports of power outages.

Several aftershocks were reported in the minutes after the quake.

A spokesman for the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office said there were no reports of injuries in the Chino Hills area.

The Los Angeles Fire Department said there were also no injuries reported in the city, although tall buildings swayed from side to side for a few seconds and workers poured into the streets.

“Operations are fully functional. We are still inspecting, but so far everything is okay,” Ontario International Airport spokeswoman Maria Tsoro-Fermin said.

A spokesman for Los Angeles International Airport said there were no flight delays at one of the world’s busiest airports as a result of the quake.

Los Angeles city officials evacuated City Hall and some 40 miles away in Anaheim, workers at Disneyland inspected rides for damage.

The world-famous amusement park remained open.

Burbank resident Marie Henderson was in an earthquake preparedness class when her building began to shake.

“I wondered how on earth they could make an earthquake,” Henderson told Reuters.

The last big quake in the Los Angeles area was the 1994 Northridge earthquake, which registered a magnitude 6.7, killed 57 people and caused considerable damage.

Magnitude 5 quakes are considered moderate but are still capable of causing damage. The USGS said Tuesday’s quake was shallow, only 8.5 miles deep.

Los Angeles is the most populous city in California and the second-most populous urban area in the United States. According to 2000 Census Bureau figures, about 3.6 million people live now in Los Angeles.