4.6 Magnitude Quake Strikes Near Malibu, Rattles Southland

A magnitude 4.6 earthquake struck west of Malibu at about 1:47 p.m. Friday and was felt throughout the region. It was followed shortly afterward by a smaller 3.0 quake.

The quake, which was initially reported as a 4.7, hit about 7.5 miles north west of Malibu, with people reported feeling the shaking as far south as San Diego and as far north as Santa Barbara and Bakersfield. More than 3,000 people made reports to the USGS within minutes of the quake striking.

The depth of the quake — roughly 9 miles — was relatively deep and likely helped attenuate the shaking.

Damage assessments are being performed by various emergency agencies including L.A. City Fire, L.A. County Fire and Ventura County Fire. No immediate damage was reported.

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“We did feel it, but thankfully nothing broke,” said Max Alperstein who works at Colony Liquor House in Malibu on Pacific Coast Highway. “It was more of a scare for a lot of customers, who walked out into the parking lot. We stayed and watched everything move back and forth.”

Some books did fly off the shelf at Malibu Village Books, and a few surfboard fins fell off the wall at Traveler Surf Club. While wines in Summer Somewhere Wines in Malibu did rattle, they didn't roll (or shatter).

“This is fairly typical. We get these moderate earthquakes occurring on our many fault zones around here," said Elizabeth Cochran, a seismologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. "We would expect that we’re going to continue to see some little aftershocks happening in this area over the next couple of days perhaps. Otherwise, we just have to see how things progress.”

It’s not immediately clear exactly which fault the earthquake originated from, though Cochran said that it's most likely the Anacapa-Dume fault, which is an east-west trending fault that reaches from Santa Monica to offshore of Point Dume in Malibu. Other suspects nearby include the Malibu Coast fault, the Oak View fault zone and the Red Mountain fault.

Triangles and circles indicate locations where people reported feeling the quake to the United States Geological Survey

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Courtesy USGS

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An early warning was issued by the U.S. Geological Survey, giving some residents in the San Fernando Valley a roughly 10-second warning before the shaking started.

"It was strong and scary, but it was fine," said Danielle Mccague, a bartender at Marmalade Cafe in Malibu. "Everyone's OK, nothing broke, just one little piece from a fire thing from the ceiling came down. That's it."

Malibu, Westlake Village, Agoura and Woodland Hills, are reported to have experienced the heaviest shaking, according to the USGS, with the movement registering as a four on the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale.

The USGS describes a magnitude 4 as: "Felt indoors by many, outdoors by few during the day...Dishes, windows, doors disturbed; walls make cracking sound. Sensation like heavy truck striking building. Standing motor cars rocked noticeably."

Multiple aftershocks followed within minutes, the largest being a magnitude 3.0.

There's always about a 5% chance that a larger earthquake will strike following the initial event, though those odds go down over time.

No tsunami warning was issued.

And with no immediate reports of injuries or damage, social media was quickly populated by the requisite memes.