Residents of the nation’s second-largest city felt a magnitude 4.2 earthquake on Friday, January 5, 2024. The tremor shook things off shelves near the epicenter in a small mountain community east of Los Angeles. However, there were no reports of significant damage or injuries.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the 10:55 a.m. quake centered about a mile (1 kilometer) northwest of Lytle Creek. It struck in the San Gabriel Mountains about 45 miles (70 kilometers) east of downtown Los Angeles. Also, they put the depth at 5.5 miles (8.8 kilometers).
Veteran seismologist Lucy Jones commented about the earthquake in a social media post. Jones said the quake occurred in Cajon Pass, where the San Andreas and San Jacinto faults come together. In 1970, she said there was a magnitude 5.2 quake with a 4.0 foreshock close to the exact location.
Less than a week later, a similar quake with a magnitude of 4.1 hit the Los Angeles area. People watching the Rose Parade in Pasadena on New Year’s Day felt the earthquake. Michael Guardado, who works at the front desk of the San Bernardino National Forest’s Lytle Creek Ranger Station, commented about the incident.
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Guardado said after Friday’s quake, the “building shook hard.” In addition, he said he heard that “a lot of rocks” fell onto Lytle Creek Road. Similarly, Cari Torguson, a bartender at Melody’s Place in Lytle Creek, said she felt “a hard boom and a shake.” While speaking to the press, she said, “It wasn’t very long, but it was scary.”
She said a decorative glass mushroom on a shelf above the bar fell and broke. Also, a jar of instant coffee toppled off a shelf in the adjoining store. In addition, Torguson said there were only a handful of people inside the building, and no one had time to duck under a table.
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The quake reportedly centered within miles of the home of minor league baseball’s Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. “What’s in a name, you say,” the team quipped on social media. Also, residents felt the tremors and slight rocking in downtown Los Angeles.
Many also reported shaking in several surrounding counties and cities surrounding Lytle Creek. These areas include Long Beach, more than 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Lytle Creek. According to reports, the earthquake warning system called ShakeAlert initially estimated the magnitude above 4.5.
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Consequently, officials sent alerts to residents via cell phones, the USGS said in a social media post. They designed the warning system to detect a quake and almost instantly send alerts to areas where they expect significant events to occur. Hence, the warning system gives people time to protect themselves or slow down trains and buses.
However, despite the magnitude of the earthquake and the minor damages, the city recorded zero damages. The Los Angeles Fire Department said there were no reports of injuries in a post on X. Also, there was no structure or infrastructure damage within the city, about 60 miles west of the earthquake’s epicenter.
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