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4.4 Magnitude Earthquake hits Los Angeles

Published

10 years ago

March 17, 2014

A 4.4-magnitude earthquake shook the Los Angeles area
on Monday morning, jolting some people awake just before sunrise but
bringing no immediate reports of serious damage.
The quake, centered about 6 miles north-northwest of Westwood and
about 15 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, happened at 6:25
a.m., the U.S. Geological Survey said.
“I sort of sat up in bed, waited a second, then put my head down for a
bit. I wasn’t really afraid,” a man walking his dog in downtown Los
Angeles less than an hour after the quake told CNN affiliate KTLA.
He didn’t provide his name.
CNN’s Alan Duke said he was half awake in his Hollywood Hills
home when he felt a jolt that lasted a few seconds.
“It just served as a rude awakening,” Duke said. “The
sliding-glass doors were just rattling like somebody had
slammed into them. Nothing fell off the walls.”
The USGS’s online ShakeMap showed that strong to
moderate shaking would have been felt near the
epicenter, with lighter vibrations felt in Los Angeles
proper.
Geophysicist Paul Caruso said that significant damage
or casualties generally wouldn’t be expected with
earthquakes weaker than a 5.5 magnitude, though
results vary by region, often depending on construction
codes and types of rock that exist underground.
At least six aftershocks followed the quake Monday
morning, the strongest of which was a magnitude 2.7,
said Egill Hauksson, a California Institute of
Technology seismologist.