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August 9, 2007
Now that was a 4.5 Earthquake, Los Angeles
UPDATE: If you are looking for information on the Tuesday, July 29, 2008 earthquake, click here.
Ohhh, that was a nice 20 to 30 second rumbler too. Tonight's 4.5 earthquake, minutes before 1:00 a.m., comes on the heels of last night's 7.5 quake in Indonesia, Southern Japan's 6.4 earthquake and a Earthquake Conference, sponsored by SCAG, that took place yesterday morning in Ontario. The epicenter is in the Santa Susana Mountains north of the intersection of the 118 freeway and Topanga Canyon Blvd. near the split of the San Fernando and Simi Valleys.
A light earthquake occurred at 12:58:49 AM (PDT) on Thursday, August 9, 2007. The magnitude 4.5 event occurred 7 km (4 miles) NNW of Chatsworth, CA. The hypocentral depth is 6 km ( 3 miles). [USGS]
At 1:44 a.m., Los Angeles Fire Deparment spokesperson Brian Humphrey (read our interview with him) announced via a text alert that "there have been no 9-1-1 calls to our agency, nor any reports of injury or damage as the result of seismic activity in Chatsworth, CA this morning." Humphrey told LAist from the Operations Command Center, a few stories underground of City Hall East where the quake was not felt, that dispatchers reported only media calls.
One commenter on a Los Angeles Times message board wrote: "Was watching Transformers at the AMC in Woodland Hills. The theater started shaking near the end of the final battle scene and everyone was looking around wondering what's going on (is this some weird special effect). Most everyone left right away and I missed the end of the movie!"
And another commenter added: "Great, now I think the earthquake might have released some zombies controlled by Jesus. No sleep for me tonight, I'm just gonna point the shotgun at the door and wait this thing out."
Get driving directions to the epicenter on Google Maps.
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ah, its nice to see laist up and ready to report!!
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Maybe it's just the fact that I haven't experienced an earthquake for a while...but that felt bigger than a 4.5.
Love the map to the epicenter.
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Just to clarify...
Earthquakes - no matter what have you been told - do NOT have epicenters. They occur along faults and shock waves that cause the vibration in the ground based on the shifting of the earth move in a linear direction from the "tear" where the shift begins. The waves move outward from there, and depending on the direction of the fault, the intensity of the shaking and waves is based on the geological make up of the surrounding area (silty, bedrock, etc.). Ask an earthquake expert for sure.
But, beware of an aftershock (unless these are foreshocks, and then we're really in for it!). Check the probability of an "afershock" here.
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Simi Valley represent!!!
I was fast asleep, darn it!!!
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Yes but was the earthquake felt in Watts?
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It moved through Watts too quickly to be felt.
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I felt it in fuckin' Burbank. My aparment complex must lie directly on a fault line or something because I've felt the last two and I would think that those would be too far away.
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I felt it in Venice
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Hey, I live in Sherman Oaks and slept right through the thing, as did my fiancee and my mother in Van Nuys. You must be a light sleeper, Zach (or you weren't sleeping to begin with, I suppose).
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I was up. I felt it. I was a lil scared not gonna lie. Thanks Zach for the info!
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I was in WeHo and I felt it. Thanks for the report, Zach. Were any of you guys living here for the '94 quake? That pretty much traumatized me.
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Check out a movie of earthquake at http://shakemovie.caltech.edu/event?evid=14312160 ! Wow! Cool beans! Was it really felt that far?
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Guest #9, as your neighbor who reported on it last night, I am not a light sleeper. Just don't go to bed until much later these days :)
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Ali: I was in 2nd or 3rd grade for Northridge. Cried my eyes out, I was so scared.
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I felt it in Hollywood and thought I was crazy for a good long while. I wish LAist had reported on it earlier!
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Sorry Jennvecc, but it was live at 1:27 a.m. :)
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It woke me up in Sunland last night. I fell asleep on the floor so I thought something was seriously messed up with me when my whole body was shaking. I've never felt an earthquake before so I just went back to sleep hoping I was dreaming, but I was really relieved to find out in the morning that it was a quake and not some random physical problem on my behalf.
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felt it in echo park. so...3.2 last week, 4.5 this week...what happens next week???
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Also felt it in WeHo. Woke me up - my first ever earthquake!! My dad (from Marina Del Ray) says it's like a rite of passage and now I'm a true Californian.
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Definitely felt it in Beverly Hills. My cats, however, slept right through it. I thought that animals were supposed to warn you about imminent natural disasters...