Los Angeles Shakes After 5.2-Magnitude Earthquake Rocks California

Abstract

• USGS despatched out emergency alerts seconds earlier than 5.2 earthquake hit.
• A number of aftershocks, as excessive as 4.5 magnitude, adopted inside 45 seconds.
• LA County felt delicate shaking, whereas Lamont epicenter felt mild to reasonable tremors.

In accordance with the US Geological Survey (USGS), a powerful 5.2-magnitude earthquake hit Southern California on Tuesday night. The quake struck close to Lamont at 9:09 pm PT, 12 miles southwest of Bakersfield.

“Earthquake Detected! Drop, Cowl, Maintain On. Defend Your self” was the emergency alert despatched out to many Southern Californians’ cell phones from the USGS seconds earlier than the shaking started.

The earthquake’s epicenter was about 15 miles southwest of Lamont, in Kern County, and other people in Fresno, Bakersfield, Santa Clarita, and so far as Los Angeles felt its tremors. A number of aftershocks, as excessive as 4.5 magnitude, started inside 45 seconds after the preliminary quake.

In accordance with the USGS map, the shaking was delicate in LA County however between mild and reasonable close to the epicenter of Lamont.

Aftershocks

In accordance with Lucy Jones, a California Institute of Know-how seismologist primarily based in Pasadena, about 60 aftershocks occurred inside the first hour. She famous, “We’re seeing a sturdy aftershock sequence” on X late Tuesday.

In 1952, an earthquake registering 7.5 on the Richter scale killed 12 folks close to the White Wolf fault in Kern County. Jones says, “It doesn’t look like on the identical fault as that earthquake.”

Equally, the 1964 earthquake that destroyed the ghost town of Portage in Alaska is a powerful reminder of the potential injury an earthquake may cause.

In accordance with the California Freeway Patrol, a big boulder blocked lanes on Interstate 5 close to Grapevine Street inside two minutes of the quake. Assessing the quake’s affect, the USGS mentioned there may be little chance of harm or casualties, neither of which have been reported.

Los Angeles

The earthquake’s epicenter lies in a comparatively rural space about 89 miles north of downtown Los Angeles. Primarily based on USGS information, Los Angeles is considered one of California’s most vulnerable cities to future earthquakes.

Instantly after the quake, the Los Angeles Fireplace Division deployed its helicopters to survey the area for potential injury. In a submit on X on Tuesday night, town’s mayor, Karen Bass, confirmed there have been “no damages or accidents within the Metropolis of Los Angeles.”

The LAFD discovered no important injury to the infrastructure or buildings and acquired zero harm studies inside LA metropolis limits.