L.A. earthquake rattles region awake, but no major damage reported

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LOS ANGELES — Authorities said the 4.4-magnitude earthquake that hit the Los Angeles area Tuesday morning rattled nerves but caused no major damage or injuries.

Residents who live near the epicenter near Pico Rivera said some items fell off shelves and tables, but authorities said they have no reports of structural damage to homes.

The quake may have caused damage to the Santa Ana Freeway (Interstate 5) at the Lakewood Boulevard
exit. According to Caltrans, two southbound lanes of the freeway have
buckled and were closed down. The rest of the freeway remains open, but
the closure is expect to jam the morning commute. Officials are trying
to determine whether the damage was related to the temblor.

No damage has been reported by Los Angeles County fire stations, according to county fire official Ed Pickett. The county’s fire stations completed a roll call of all stations about 10 minutes after the earthquake.

“They’re all reporting they felt it, but are not
reporting any damage,” Pickett said. “It just seemed to be a
significant jolt. But no damage, knock on wood.”

Pickett described the earthquake as a big jolt,
“kind of like the building dropped. … It was really quick.” He
described feeling the quake for about “15 seconds at the most.”

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the temblor struck at 4:04 a.m. PT about 11 miles east of downtown Los Angeles and about one mile from Pico Rivera. The depth was recorded at about 11 miles.

The quake was considered small, but it was felt over a large swath of Southern California. On the USGS website, more than 1,000 people across Southern California reported feeling the temblor.

Jeff Carr, chief of staff to L.A. Mayor Antonio
Villaraigosa, said in a Twitter message it appeared there was “no major
damage in the City at this time. Good reminder that we all need 2 be
prepared.”

The quake was centered about four miles from the
epicenter of the 1987 Whittier Narrows quake, which caused eight
deaths. That quake registered magnitude 5.9.

A 4.4 quake is considered a light earthquake,
according to general size conventions on earthquakes. The Whittier
Narrows quake in 1987 was considered moderate. It was centered about
six miles underground, and caused substantial damage to buildings,
particularly those made out of unreinforced brick.

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