Earthquake of magnitude 4.7 shakes parts of Southern California

CNN
—

According to the United States Geological Survey, an earthquake measuring 4.7 on the Richter scale was recorded in Ventura County, California.

The earthquake struck at 7:28 a.m. and was centered about 4 miles north of Malibu, the USGS said. The USGS recorded at least five aftershocks, with the strongest – measured at magnitude 3.5 – occurring less than a mile from the epicenter at 9:37 a.m.

Experts believe that earthquakes of magnitude 4 to 5 generally cause mild shaking and very little to no damage.

According to CNN journalists on the scene, the quake was felt in downtown Los Angeles. Many residents were warned shortly before the quake via the USGS ShakeAlert system.

The Los Angeles Fire Department said there was no damage to infrastructure or injuries after dispatching personnel from more than 100 fire stations to conduct a land, air and sea investigation.

The epicenter of the earthquake was near the Malibu Fault, said seismologist Lucy Jones, a geophysical research associate at the California Institute of Technology.

“The information we have does not clearly link it to this fault,” Jones said at an afternoon press conference. “In this region, like everywhere else in Southern California, each of us is less than five miles from an active fault.”

“This is a really good reminder that the calm of the last few decades is not the future picture and we need to be prepared,” she said.

According to Jones, California has averaged about eight earthquakes of magnitude 4 or higher this time of year, and the state has experienced 14 so far in 2024.

“I thought it would never end. I was starting to think it was the big quake because we had all these little quakes,” Malibu resident Joanne Gary told CNN affiliate KABC.

Millions of people across the region, including Malibu, Westlake Village, Agoura, Thousand Oaks and Los Angeles, felt the earthquake.