Moderate earthquake shakes Los Angeles, no injuries

USPA News - A moderate earthquake shook Los Angeles and other parts of Southern California on early Monday morning, but there were no immediate reports of serious damage or injuries, seismologists and officials said. The 4.4-magnitude earthquake at 6:25 a.m. local time on Monday was centered in the San Fernando Valley about 6 miles (9.6 kilometers) north-northwest of Westwood, close to Beverley Hills.

It struck about 6.2 miles (9.9 kilometers) deep, making it a shallow earthquake, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). USGS computer models showed that approximately 148,000 people in the area close to the epicenter may have felt `strong` tremors, while 5.3 million people further away may have felt `light` to `moderate` shaking. As many as 10.7 million people in the wider area may have perceived `weak` tremors. No serious damage or injuries were reported in the City of Los Angeles in connection with Monday`s earthquake, though many people across the region were woken up by the sudden but brief jolt, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD). The USGS said that, due to the size of the quake, little to no damage was to be expected. "As far as I know, there hasn`t been (any damage) and that`s what I would expect from a quake this size. Maybe it knocked some things off shelves, somewhere close to the epicenter, but I wouldn`t expect any real serious damage from a quake this size," a USGS spokesman said. In the aftermath of earthquakes, people often tend to fear aftershocks and the potential for future quakes which could be stronger, but the USGS said such an event was unlikely. "We don`t really think a quake like this will change the risk situation," the spokesman said. "That part of California is at risk all the time for a large quake or small one, and that doesn`t change one way or the other with a little quake like this." While relatively small, Monday`s earthquake was one of the largest quakes to hit the Los Angeles area directly since the 1994 Northridge earthquake that killed 57 people, left over 5,000 injured, and caused over $20 billion in damages.