The Chino Hills Earthquake Shakes Los Angeles

Chino Hills, California -- A huge earthquake hit the town of Chino Hills late this morning of July 29, 2008. According to the United States Geological Service, the magnitude of the quake is 5.4, a moderate measure on the Richter scale. It had initially been reported that the magnitude was 5.6, then 5.8, but the USGS finally put it at 5.4. The magnitude means nothing to the people situated in the epicenter a few miles southwest of Chino, between the heart of Chino Hills and diamond Bar. To the natives, it felt like an 11 on the Richter scale, lasting approximately 15 seconds. Most natives stressed that they had not felt anything like this for as long as they could remember. Chino Hills is a city located about 30 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

The quake hit at 11.42 AM, a time when most people are separated from their family by school, work, or errands. My husband and I were both at work when it hit. I was in my summer school classroom when it hit. You can imagine the pandemonium in the classroom as students shouted and scrambled to be out of the building. Students were momentarily agitated, but we quickly had to exit the building and stay in designated safety area.

My school is in Sylmar, some nearly 70 miles northwest of Chino Hills when this happened. The way it shook so hard, I was certain that this had to be a huge earthquake somewhere. I was nervous and concerned for my family and relatives. Students were shaken but no injuries. We were in a bungalow, a one floor building so for us to feel the shake as tumultuous at it was, it had to have hit big elsewhere.

Getting through to my family was hard. I tried many times to dial home, where my children and my parents were. No luck. Reaching my husband in Los Angeles gave the same result; I had no network. All the worst possible thoughts came to my mind.

As moderate as this quake may be on the Richter magnitude, I had a flashback to the Northridge earthquake of 1994, which had hit early in the morning when most families were together. That quake was a 6.7 magnitude that destroyed a lot of lives, buildings, freeways, and a lot of businesses. I was relieved that this had not been as bad at it felt, and we are crossing our fingers that the aftershocks, which have now exceeded 30, will only remain relatively low and insignificant.

Thankfully, summer school was out by 12:20PM. I could not wait to get home. When I got home, my parents and children were all okay. The quake hadn't been as bad but did quite some shaking as my neighbor states. We live 11miles from my job location in Sylmar, an approximate 80 plus miles from the epicenter and my parents and children felt the trembling. It was not as bad, they said, so I was glad they were all fine.

My relatives in the San Bernardino area were also all fine too, although they were shaken. Some businesses and schools in the area were closed shortly after the earthquake, with a lot of products off the shelves and on the floor. So far there have been no major injuries or major property damages reported. But people of Los Angeles and its vicinity who are used to earthquake will tell you that they didn't' see this coming.

At the time when the shake hit the Sylmar locale where I was, I thought it was some construction going on, as there had been some workers on the roof of an adjacent bungalow yesterday. I thought maybe they were now working on my building, but it lasted for what seems like eternity and the temblor itself made us realize it was a quake. For now, we are just glad that no one is seriously injured.