sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- A magnitude-5.4 earthquake has struck just east of Los Angeles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
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A watermain break happened during the quake in Los Angeles near CalState.
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<script type="text/javascript"> var CNN_ArticleChanger = new CNN_imageChanger('cnnImgChngr','/2008/US/07/29/earthquake.ca/imgChng/p1-0.init.exclude.html',2,1); //CNN.imageChanger.load('cnnImgChngr','imgChng/p1-0.exclude.html'); </script> <!--endclickprintexclude--> Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that a preliminary analysis has shown no serious structural damage and no injury reports in Los Angeles.
The epicenter was 3 miles west-southwest of Chino Hills and 28 miles east-southeast of the Los Angeles Civic Center, which is in downtown Los Angeles, the USGS reports.
The epicenter was about 8.5 miles deep. In general, earthquakes closer to the surface produce stronger shaking and can cause more damage than those farther underground.
It was felt from Los Angeles to San Diego and across the border in Tijuana, Mexico.
The quake struck at 11:42 a.m. (2:42 p.m. ET), according to the USGS. Kate Hutton, a staff seismologist at Caltech, said 11 aftershocks followed, with 3.8 being the largest and the only one felt, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Reports of damage are beginning to trickle in. A watermain reportedly broken near Cal State L.A. has lifted the roadway, according to KABC. A gap in the northbound 241 connector to the eastbound 91 Freeway. The freeway has not been shut down.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has not received any reports of earthquake-related power outages or impacts to the watersystem and a Southern California Edison spokeswoman says some electrical outages have been reported in Chino, Chino Hills, Diamond Bar and Pomona, according to KABC.
The quake's magnitude classification fluctuated as seismologists reviewed the data. Initially classified as a magnitude 5.8, the quake's intensity was reduced to a 5.6 and then to a 5.4.
Because the earthquake magnitude scale is exponential, a 5.8 magnitude quake is four to five times more intense than a 5.4.
A 5.4 magnitude quake is considered by the USGS to be "moderate," which can cause slight damage to buildings and others structures. About 500 can happen globally each year, the survey says.
There were no immediate reports of injury or damage in Los Angeles, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey told The Associated Press. San Bernardino County fire dispatch did not have reports of damage, AP said.
According to the USGS archives, it's the biggest California earthquake since September 28, 2004, when a 6.0 quake was recorded south of Parkfield, which is about 70 miles northwest of Bakersfield.
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Chino Hills college instructor Jesse Diaz said classes have been canceled at Mount San Antonio Community College, about a mile from the epicenter.
"We're right on top of it [the quake]," he said. "It was the worst earthquake I've felt since '86. You could just feel the ground shaking back and forth. I looked outside and the patio was just twisting."
Tiles fell from the ceiling at a United Airlines gate as water flowed from a burst pipe seconds after the quake, said Michael Cary, a CNN senior producer who was at Los Angeles International Airport.
CNN's Ed Lavandera was at Disneyland in Anaheim, southeast of Los Angeles, with his family and felt the tremor. He said the shaking lasted about 5 seconds.
Watch a reporter describe the shaking at Disneyland ?
CNN affiliate KABC is reporting that Disneyland's rides have been evacuated.
Lavandera was standing in line for a ride when he saw the ride's top "shaking back and forth."
You could hear the metal kind of clanging around, and the ride was just ending, so for a moment ... I thought maybe something was wrong with the ride. Then I realized the ride had already stopped moving and the ground was still moving," he said. Did you feel the quake?
iReporter Danny Casler, 28, of Huntington Beach, California, was awakened by the earthquake. "My house was like a fun house," he said. "Everything in the house was shifting back and forth."
A more serious quake is expected within the next 30 years, according a study sponsored by the USGS and published in April in Science Daily. The USGS said there was a 99 percent chance of California having a magnitude 6.7 or larger within the next 30 years.
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<!--endclickprintexclude--> Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has offered state help to Los Angeles, Los Angeles County and Chino Hills.
"Our state Office of Emergency Services has reached out to local governments in the affected area to ensure that levees, bridges and other critical infrastructure are inspected and declared safe," he said in a statement. "We are activating our regional and state emergency operations centers and will continue monitoring the situation closely." <!--startclickprintexclude-->
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/29/earthquake.ca/?iref=mpstoryview
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<script type="text/javascript"> var CNN_ArticleChanger = new CNN_imageChanger('cnnImgChngr','/2008/US/07/29/earthquake.ca/imgChng/p1-0.init.exclude.html',2,1); //CNN.imageChanger.load('cnnImgChngr','imgChng/p1-0.exclude.html'); </script> <!--endclickprintexclude--> Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told CNN's Wolf Blitzer that a preliminary analysis has shown no serious structural damage and no injury reports in Los Angeles.
The epicenter was 3 miles west-southwest of Chino Hills and 28 miles east-southeast of the Los Angeles Civic Center, which is in downtown Los Angeles, the USGS reports.
The epicenter was about 8.5 miles deep. In general, earthquakes closer to the surface produce stronger shaking and can cause more damage than those farther underground.
It was felt from Los Angeles to San Diego and across the border in Tijuana, Mexico.
The quake struck at 11:42 a.m. (2:42 p.m. ET), according to the USGS. Kate Hutton, a staff seismologist at Caltech, said 11 aftershocks followed, with 3.8 being the largest and the only one felt, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Reports of damage are beginning to trickle in. A watermain reportedly broken near Cal State L.A. has lifted the roadway, according to KABC. A gap in the northbound 241 connector to the eastbound 91 Freeway. The freeway has not been shut down.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has not received any reports of earthquake-related power outages or impacts to the watersystem and a Southern California Edison spokeswoman says some electrical outages have been reported in Chino, Chino Hills, Diamond Bar and Pomona, according to KABC.
The quake's magnitude classification fluctuated as seismologists reviewed the data. Initially classified as a magnitude 5.8, the quake's intensity was reduced to a 5.6 and then to a 5.4.
Because the earthquake magnitude scale is exponential, a 5.8 magnitude quake is four to five times more intense than a 5.4.
A 5.4 magnitude quake is considered by the USGS to be "moderate," which can cause slight damage to buildings and others structures. About 500 can happen globally each year, the survey says.
There were no immediate reports of injury or damage in Los Angeles, Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey told The Associated Press. San Bernardino County fire dispatch did not have reports of damage, AP said.
According to the USGS archives, it's the biggest California earthquake since September 28, 2004, when a 6.0 quake was recorded south of Parkfield, which is about 70 miles northwest of Bakersfield.
<!--startclickprintexclude--> Don't Miss
- iReport.com: Did you feel the quake?
- Honore: Task of Americans to be ready for disaster
- LA Times: Wide swath shaken
- KABC: Road, runway damage reported
Chino Hills college instructor Jesse Diaz said classes have been canceled at Mount San Antonio Community College, about a mile from the epicenter.
"We're right on top of it [the quake]," he said. "It was the worst earthquake I've felt since '86. You could just feel the ground shaking back and forth. I looked outside and the patio was just twisting."
Tiles fell from the ceiling at a United Airlines gate as water flowed from a burst pipe seconds after the quake, said Michael Cary, a CNN senior producer who was at Los Angeles International Airport.
CNN's Ed Lavandera was at Disneyland in Anaheim, southeast of Los Angeles, with his family and felt the tremor. He said the shaking lasted about 5 seconds.
CNN affiliate KABC is reporting that Disneyland's rides have been evacuated.
Lavandera was standing in line for a ride when he saw the ride's top "shaking back and forth."
You could hear the metal kind of clanging around, and the ride was just ending, so for a moment ... I thought maybe something was wrong with the ride. Then I realized the ride had already stopped moving and the ground was still moving," he said. Did you feel the quake?
iReporter Danny Casler, 28, of Huntington Beach, California, was awakened by the earthquake. "My house was like a fun house," he said. "Everything in the house was shifting back and forth."
A more serious quake is expected within the next 30 years, according a study sponsored by the USGS and published in April in Science Daily. The USGS said there was a 99 percent chance of California having a magnitude 6.7 or larger within the next 30 years.
<!--startclickprintexclude-->
<!--endclickprintexclude--> Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has offered state help to Los Angeles, Los Angeles County and Chino Hills.
"Our state Office of Emergency Services has reached out to local governments in the affected area to ensure that levees, bridges and other critical infrastructure are inspected and declared safe," he said in a statement. "We are activating our regional and state emergency operations centers and will continue monitoring the situation closely." <!--startclickprintexclude-->
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/29/earthquake.ca/?iref=mpstoryview
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