Latest California Earthquake Measures 4.7 With 3.1 Aftershock

The Los Angeles Times is carrying a story on yet another California earthquake. The staff of The Los Angeles Times in their article "4.7 quake shakes Southern California, rattling nerves" report that this most recent California earthquake, originally reported as a magnitude 5.0 was in fact a 4.7 but that was plenty high to terrify Californians.

The earthquake was located southeast of Los Angeles and was felt as far away as San Diego.

What made this earthquake unique was the fact that it started 8.4 miles below the surface. U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Susan Hough was quoted in the article in saying the tremor was a "bit deep."

The nature of the quake, according to the article was that it was intense but short lasting about ten seconds.

In most of the region there was no major structural damage that was immediately reported on any widespread basis. It was the type of quake that shook dishes off of shelves and loosened ceiling tiles.

The 4.7 magnitude quake was followed by a 3.1 magnitude aftershock.

There are a number of identified faults in California and while it was difficult for seismologists to determine which one this quake came from, it was believed that it was from the Newport-Inglewood Fault.

The Newport-Inglewood Fault's history includes a 6.3 magnitude earthquake in 1933 in Long Beach, California. It is not expected that there will be quakes from the Newport-Inglewood Fault that will exceed that intensity.

Additional information with respect to the Newport-Inglewood Fault indicates that it is a very active area with the quakes it produces being in the "three" range.

After the initial report, it was updated that the earthquake was strong enough to cause broken windows. It seems that typically quakes cause a little more damage than initially reported.

Ultimately the article refers to this earthquake as a "garden variety California earthquake."

I just wrote an article on Associated Content in March about Californians having to watch for earthquakes and tremors from the very popular San Andreas Fault. Most people are unaware that there are so many different faults in California. The San Andreas Fault is the one that comes to mind.

As I said in my other article I'm from Illinois and we have our own problems with tornadoes, but the one earthquake I experienced, and it was very mild, was enough to put on permanent hold any thoughts I've ever had of "moving to the coast."

References:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/05/47-quake-shakes-southern-california-rattling-nerves-but-causing-modest-damage.html
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1597250/californians_watching_the_san_andreas.html?cat=16