February 11, 2009 2:33 PM
- Text
Quake Shakes Southern California
(CBS/ AP)
The strongest earthquake to strike a populated area of Southern California since the 1994 Northridge quake rocked the region from Los Angeles to San Diego on Tuesday but caused only limited damage and a few injuries.
Strongly felt but considered moderate, the magnitude-5.4 jolt struck at 11:42 a.m. and centered 29 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles near the San Bernardino County city of Chino Hills. It was felt as far east as Las Vegas.
Dozens of aftershocks followed, reports CBS Evening News correspondent Ben Tracy, none with a magnitude greater than 3.8. Nonetheless, one building near the epicenter in San Bernardino County buckled, scattering bricks on the ground below. But even for Southern Californians, who are used to shakers, this one felt like it could have been a lot worse.
By comparison, it was nowhere nearly as powerful as the 1994 Northridge earthquake, which killed more than 70 people, causing billions in damage -- after collapsing buildings and roadways throughout the area.
"The Northridge quake was a 6.7 and this was a 5.4, so it was more than a factor of 10 smaller," said seismologist Kate Hutton of the U.S. Geological Survey office in Pasadena.
"It shakes you up," said liquor store owner Rick King. "No matter how many times you go through it, it shakes you up."
"And there goes the earthquake - earthquake, earthquake, earthquake!" Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine declared as shaking interrupted a council meeting. "The building is rolling."
The magnitude-5.9 Whittier Narrows quake in 1987 was the last big shake centered in the region. That quake heavily damaged older buildings and houses in communities east of Los Angeles.
As strongly as it was felt, Tuesday's quake was far less powerful than the deadly magnitude-6.7 Northridge earthquake that topped bridges and buildings on Jan. 17, 1994. That was the last damaging temblor in Southern California, though not the biggest. A 7.1 quake struck the desert in 1999.
Merchandise toppled from store shelves and bricks fell from walls of old-style buildings, local television stations reported.
The state Office of Emergency Services in Sacramento received scattered reports of minor infrastructure damage, including broken water mains and gas lines. The damage was in the greater Los Angeles area.
"I thank God there have not been any reports of serious injuries or damage to properties," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told a televised press conference. "People understandably are very nervous."
Minor structural damage was reported throughout Los Angeles, along with five minor injuries and people stuck in elevators, said City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, serving as acting mayor. She said there was flooding in one department store.
The California Department of Transportation and California Highway Patrol were assessing freeways to check for damage. Traffic appeared to be flowing easily, however.
"We have no reported damages or cracks to structures," said Caltrans spokeswoman Maria Raptis.
The jolt caused a fire but no injuries at a Southern California Edison electrical substation in La Habra, about 12 miles southwest of the epicenter, spokesman Paul Klein said. Damage there and to other equipment led to some power outages in Chino Hills, Chino, Diamond Bar and Pomona, he said.
Near the epicenter, all the customers of a Chino Hills Starbucks ran outside and bags of coffee beans fell off shelves, said worker Jamie Saleh, 24.
"It was very, very strong. It was rolling and ... there wasn't a pause. it came on really strong and just kept going."
Chino Hills was incorporated in 1991, so much of the construction is newer and built to modern safety standards, said city spokeswoman Denise Cattern. She said there were no reports of harm in the city of 80,000, although cell phone service in the area was disrupted. The biggest employer in town, the school district, is out of session.
"At this point, the biggest impact we can report is getting through on cell phones. ... And a few little rattled nerves," Cattern said.
Buildings swayed in downtown Los Angeles for several seconds.
Workers quickly evacuated some office buildings.
"I'm still shaking. My knees are wobbling. I thought the building might collapse," said Rosana Martinez, 50, of El Monte, an employee of California National Bank in downtown Los Angeles.
"It was dramatic. The whole building moved and it lasted for a while," said Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore, who was in the sheriff's suburban Monterey Park headquarters east of Los Angeles.
In Orange County, about 2000 detectives were attending gang conference at a Marriott hotel in Anaheim when a violent jolt shook the main conference room.
Mike Willever, who was at the hotel, said, "First we heard the ceiling shaking, then the chandelier started to shake, then there was a sudden movement of the floor."
Chris Watkins, from San Diego, said he previously felt several earthquakes, but "that was one of the worst ones."
Delegates and guests at a cluster of hotels near the Disneyland resort spilled into the streets immediately after the quake.
Disneyland visitor Clint Hendrickson, 32, said he was in the Golden Horseshoe theater watching a show when the temblor hit.
"The ground moved and the chandelier started shaking," he said. "We are from Texas and we thought it was part of the show, until people started yelling, 'Get under the tables."'
Strongly felt but considered moderate, the magnitude-5.4 jolt struck at 11:42 a.m. and centered 29 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles near the San Bernardino County city of Chino Hills. It was felt as far east as Las Vegas.
Dozens of aftershocks followed, reports CBS Evening News correspondent Ben Tracy, none with a magnitude greater than 3.8. Nonetheless, one building near the epicenter in San Bernardino County buckled, scattering bricks on the ground below. But even for Southern Californians, who are used to shakers, this one felt like it could have been a lot worse.
By comparison, it was nowhere nearly as powerful as the 1994 Northridge earthquake, which killed more than 70 people, causing billions in damage -- after collapsing buildings and roadways throughout the area.
"The Northridge quake was a 6.7 and this was a 5.4, so it was more than a factor of 10 smaller," said seismologist Kate Hutton of the U.S. Geological Survey office in Pasadena.
Tuesday's quake was smaller, too, Tracy reports, than the 1987 Whittier Narrows quake, which happened very near the epicenter of this quake. But it was large enough for at least 10 million people throughout Southern California who haven't felt something like this in a long time.View a map from The U.S. Geological Survey, showing the epicenter of the quake.
"It shakes you up," said liquor store owner Rick King. "No matter how many times you go through it, it shakes you up."
"And there goes the earthquake - earthquake, earthquake, earthquake!" Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine declared as shaking interrupted a council meeting. "The building is rolling."
The magnitude-5.9 Whittier Narrows quake in 1987 was the last big shake centered in the region. That quake heavily damaged older buildings and houses in communities east of Los Angeles.
As strongly as it was felt, Tuesday's quake was far less powerful than the deadly magnitude-6.7 Northridge earthquake that topped bridges and buildings on Jan. 17, 1994. That was the last damaging temblor in Southern California, though not the biggest. A 7.1 quake struck the desert in 1999.
Merchandise toppled from store shelves and bricks fell from walls of old-style buildings, local television stations reported.
The state Office of Emergency Services in Sacramento received scattered reports of minor infrastructure damage, including broken water mains and gas lines. The damage was in the greater Los Angeles area.
"I thank God there have not been any reports of serious injuries or damage to properties," Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told a televised press conference. "People understandably are very nervous."
Minor structural damage was reported throughout Los Angeles, along with five minor injuries and people stuck in elevators, said City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, serving as acting mayor. She said there was flooding in one department store.
The California Department of Transportation and California Highway Patrol were assessing freeways to check for damage. Traffic appeared to be flowing easily, however.
"We have no reported damages or cracks to structures," said Caltrans spokeswoman Maria Raptis.
The jolt caused a fire but no injuries at a Southern California Edison electrical substation in La Habra, about 12 miles southwest of the epicenter, spokesman Paul Klein said. Damage there and to other equipment led to some power outages in Chino Hills, Chino, Diamond Bar and Pomona, he said.
Near the epicenter, all the customers of a Chino Hills Starbucks ran outside and bags of coffee beans fell off shelves, said worker Jamie Saleh, 24.
"It was very, very strong. It was rolling and ... there wasn't a pause. it came on really strong and just kept going."
Chino Hills was incorporated in 1991, so much of the construction is newer and built to modern safety standards, said city spokeswoman Denise Cattern. She said there were no reports of harm in the city of 80,000, although cell phone service in the area was disrupted. The biggest employer in town, the school district, is out of session.
"At this point, the biggest impact we can report is getting through on cell phones. ... And a few little rattled nerves," Cattern said.
Buildings swayed in downtown Los Angeles for several seconds.
Workers quickly evacuated some office buildings.
"I'm still shaking. My knees are wobbling. I thought the building might collapse," said Rosana Martinez, 50, of El Monte, an employee of California National Bank in downtown Los Angeles.
"It was dramatic. The whole building moved and it lasted for a while," said Los Angeles County sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore, who was in the sheriff's suburban Monterey Park headquarters east of Los Angeles.
In Orange County, about 2000 detectives were attending gang conference at a Marriott hotel in Anaheim when a violent jolt shook the main conference room.
Mike Willever, who was at the hotel, said, "First we heard the ceiling shaking, then the chandelier started to shake, then there was a sudden movement of the floor."
Chris Watkins, from San Diego, said he previously felt several earthquakes, but "that was one of the worst ones."
Delegates and guests at a cluster of hotels near the Disneyland resort spilled into the streets immediately after the quake.
Disneyland visitor Clint Hendrickson, 32, said he was in the Golden Horseshoe theater watching a show when the temblor hit.
"The ground moved and the chandelier started shaking," he said. "We are from Texas and we thought it was part of the show, until people started yelling, 'Get under the tables."'
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