Moderate Quakes Shake L.A. Area

No Serious Injuries But Nerves Rattled After Temblors Strike, Highest Mag. 4.7; Warnings Of More Aftershocks

(CBS/AP)  Glass shattered and ceiling tiles fell as a moderate tremor shook laid-back Southern California, rattling residents' nerves and reminding them they need to update earthquake emergency plans.

No significant damage or major injuries were reported but the greater Los Angeles region vibrated for about 10 to 15 seconds Sunday night and the tremor was felt as far south as San Diego, said U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Susan Hough.

"This was a serious jolt," Hough said.

CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy reports that the quake rattled nerves all the way to San Diego and Long Beach.

It measured magnitude-4.7 and was centered about 10 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles and three miles east of Los Angeles International Airport, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

"First thing I thought was 'Is this the big one?' It was pretty powerful," said Long Beach resident Tom Oswalt, 46. "My first thought was to get out of the building, get my dog and get out of the building."

At least 10 aftershocks had followed by early Monday, with the largest registering magnitude-3.1.

"People should be on their toes," Hough said.

Sunday's shock was one of the most powerful quakes Carel McEachern had felt during her four decades in Long Beach.

"It didn't get me out of the house, but after it was over, we all wandered out in the street and asked around and we all agreed it was the strongest one in a long time," said McEachern, 58.

Charlene Ebright said she hadn't updated her earthquake emergency supplies in eight years but now she plans to do so.

"I've cut out a million articles about what to do and what you need but I've never gotten around to it," Ebright said. "It just reminds you, you've got to be ready."

Glass broke at a Starbucks in Torrance, and one person there was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries, Torrance Fire Department dispatchers said.

Ceiling tiles fell in a movie theater during a screening of "Angels and Demons" in Redondo Beach and moviegoers fled. Television images showed a storefront window knocked out of a Long Beach drapery business.

"We thought the ceiling was going to cave in to be honest, so everybody started [to] run out of there," one audience member told CBS News.

The shaking was most intense in the coastal communities south of the airport, including Long Beach.

Carolyn Gray was reading a book at her Long Beach home when her dog, Rocket, jumped into her lap. It was the 2½-year-old pet's first earthquake.

"It was a good jolt. It wasn't really a roll," she said.

Mariella Freyre, 30, a waitress at Kafe Neo, a Greek restaurant in Long Beach, said she was surprised by the strength of the quake, which she felt while she talked to customers.

"There were tremors and glasses started shaking," she said at the restaurant Monday. "I felt the movement on the floor. I've been in many tremors but I've never felt the floor move like that."

The quake originated 8.4 miles below the surface and appeared consistent with movement on the Newport-Inglewood fault, said USGS geophysicist Ken Hudnut.

That fault was responsible for the magnitude-6.4 Long Beach earthquake in 1933 that killed 120 and caused more than $50 million in damage.

The last damaging earthquake in Southern California was the 1994 magnitude-6.7 Northridge quake that toppled bridges and buildings.

Since Northridge, the region has been in a relative seismic lull, although activity has picked up in the past year.

Last summer, a 5.4-magnitude quake was centered in Chino Hills, east of Los Angeles, but did not cause major damage. Earlier this year, an earthquake swarm shook the desert near the southern end of the San Andreas Fault.

"The activity that we've seen in the past year isn't the highest by a long shot, but I would no longer call Los Angeles quiet," said USGS seismologist Lucy Jones.

"Every earthquake triggers other earthquakes," she told CBS News.

[sjc_1]

Anything less than a 5.0 gets little attention, unless it is right under you. It lasted quite a long time, but I am 50 miles from the center, so it was just enough to let you know it happened. If we get a 7.0 like the Loma Prieta quake in the SFO Bay area and lose 60 people then it is a major quake. They get the same size quake in Mexico and lose 6000. Let's hear it for building codes that save lives!

[SusanStoHelit]

Earthquakes aren't bad - they're rare, anything large enough to cause any damage (this one was just barely large enough - and at that, must have hit just the wrong frequency) is quite rare, a bit of shaking and it's over. Most houses and buildings stand up to it just fine, and unlike a hurricane, tornado, flood, blizzard etc. - you don't have to deal with water damage and other side effects.

We barely felt it where I was.

[SusanStoHelit]

An earthquake to shake up all the Prop 8 supporters? Must be passing Prop 8 that made him mad. </sarcasm>

Yeah - earthquakes happen, always have. They happened before any people were living here, and they'll happen long after we're gone. Those who would have their god as a vindictive type who punishes entire communities for the 'transgressions' of a few - they deserve the type of God they believe in. Good thing he doesn't exist.

[start99]

I was living in Ridgecrest, CA where its earthquake capitol od the west and no one has reported on the high number of quakes there which when I was there only went to 4.5 or less. Check it out.

[start99]

I was living in Ridgecrest, CA where its earthquake capitol od the west and no one has reported on the high number of quakes there which when I was there only went to 4.5 or less. Check it out.

[brianbwb-2009]

"No I mean the correct God." Posted by mrs_trepidatious

Funny, I was just having a coffee with him a Hooters, and he said he had nothing to do with it.

[kommonsense]

I was right in the middle of the Northridge earthquake in 1994. It was the worst thing I've ever expeirenced. I moved out of California 2 years ago, and love not having to worry about earthquakes anymore. But California has been in a lull since the Northridge quake, like it let out all the pressure and it's been slowly building back up again. These "little" quakes are a warning that a much bigger one is coming soon. That's how it was before Northridge, small quakes happening more and more until the big one.

[I_am_me1953]

Correction:
Actually there were 3 in California in the last 24 hours according to the USGS. L.A., 31 miles outside Bakersfield, and 17 miles outside Cloverdale. The hardest hit area "besides LA" being outside Cloverdale. That is just what the USGS is reporting.
Posted by debinok1

____________________________

There were three or four on Saturday in the Dallas-Fort Worth (Euless, Texas) area. These were reportedly minor - 3.3- reported. This old world is rocking an drolling, waiting for a few valcanos or geysers to become a little more active.

[I_am_me1953]

by mutnauq4842 May 18, 2009 7:05 AM PDT
God is angry at the sinning liberals in California and is making the earth shake to give them a reminder of who is the boss.
Posted by mrs_trepidatious at 5:55 AM : May 18, 2009

Harry, you're back. We didn't hear from you for a couple of days.
____________________________

Trust me she has been here lurking in the shadows like the good little troll she is.

[mutnauq4842]

God is angry at the sinning liberals in California and is making the earth shake to give them a reminder of who is the boss.
Posted by mrs_trepidatious at 5:55 AM : May 18, 2009

Harry, you're back. We didn't hear from you for a couple of days.