Los Angeles wakes up to 4.4 magnitude quake


Just after 4AM local time this morning, a minor quake measuring 4.4 on the Richter scale hit “a large swath” of Southern California.

The quake was centered about ten miles east of downtown Los Angeles. Little damage was reported, but recent, high-profile seismic activity and larger quakes in Haiti and Chile had some residents feeling a little unnerved by the incident.

Commenters on ABC’s Los Angeles affiliate KABC reported feeling the earthquake in several of the surrounding towns.

“The earthquake knocked me out of bed,” one Arcadia poster wrote. “It was pretty scary!!! I ran out from house and it was so cold outside and I stayed in car like 10 min, after I got back home I couldn’t sleep.”

Geophysicist Jessica Sigala of the United States Geological Survey said the minor quake was no cause for alarm:

“With a 4.4 here, we probably wouldn’t see substantial damage, just a lot of shaking,” Sigala said, adding that the quake was hard enough probably just to knock books off shelves and maybe break windows.

The area may see some aftershocks, she said, but they will likely be smaller than the initial earthquake.

No damage, injuries or threats to local infrastructure have been reported in the wake of this morning’s earthquake.

Share this article: Los Angeles wakes up to 4.4 magnitude quake
More from Inquisitr