Magnitude 4.4 earthquake rattles Los Angeles, felt over wide area

Magnitude 4.4 earthquake rattles Los Angeles, felt over wide area

By Rong-Gong Lin II

, Nathan Solis and Karen Garcia

A magnitude 4.4 earthquake centered in El Sereno rattled the Los Angeles area Monday afternoon.

The quake was felt over a wide swath of Southern California, but there were no immediate reports of major damage.

The shaking brought a short jolt of up-and-down motion that knocked shampoo bottles off the shelf at the Target in Alhambra, as well as the “shredded cheese” sign off a refrigerated aisle, and shoppers started calling loved ones to see whether they were OK. 

In Highland Park, windows rattled and dogs barked, and coffee spilled off a table. Elsewhere in Alhambra, photos were knocked off the shelf, drawers opened and shoes were thrown from a rack.

The temblor struck at 12:20 p.m. The preliminary epicenter was in El Sereno, about 1,000 feet southwest of Huntington Drive and Collis Avenue.

People across the region felt shaking strong enough to knock items from shelves... The seventh floor of The Times’ headquarters in El Segundo, near Los Angeles International Airport, swayed as lights flickered and televisions that hang on walls swayed. In the Los Feliz-East Hollywood area, car alarms sounded, candles were knocked off tables and people exclaimed, “That was scary!” Windows at businesses in Los Feliz shook.

Seismologist Lucy Jones, a Caltech research associate, said the earthquake occurred on the same overall fault network that produced the 1987 Whittier Narrows magnitude 5.9 earthquake.

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Magnitude 4.4 earthquake rattles Los Angeles

Denise Chow and Phil Helsel

 

A magnitude 4.4 earthquake hit Los Angeles on Monday afternoon, rattling a wide swath of the city. 

The earthquake, which was initially measured at magnitude 4.7, struck at 12:20 p.m. local time (3:20 p.m. ET) and was centered roughly 2.5 miles southeast of Highland Park, a neighborhood in northeastern L.A. The U.S. Geological Survey then revised the preliminary measurement to magnitude 4.4.

"Significant earthquake just felt in the Los Angeles area," the L.A. Police Department wrote on X. "Reminder, please use 911 only for emergencies. Be prepared for aftershocks."

In Hollywood, around 9 miles west of South Pasadena, the quake caused a rattling sound in buildings and a sensation of rocking back and forth.

There have been no major reports of damage so far, but L.A. Fire Department personnel are surveying neighborhoods to assess critical infrastructure.

"A preliminary magnitude 4.7 earthquake shook the Los Angeles region this afternoon. Our @LAFD is now in earthquake mode and is activated to conduct its routine survey of the city to assess for any damages," L.A. Mayor Karen Bass wrote on X.

The National Weather Service said no tsunami is expected.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.