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Tag: temblor

  • Magnitude 3 earthquake strikes Malibu, the latest to rattle the area

    Magnitude 3 earthquake strikes Malibu, the latest to rattle the area

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    A magnitude 3 earthquake occurred just north of Malibu Saturday afternoon, the latest in a cluster of temblors reported over the last week and a half.

    The latest earthquake occurred at 2:15 p.m. Saturday, with an epicenter along Kanan Dume Road, about 3.6 miles north of Point Dume.

    Saturday’s event was the sixth earthquake of magnitude 3 or higher since a magnitude 4.7 earthquake in the same area was widely felt across Southern California on Sept. 12.

    Only “weak” shaking was felt in the area closest to Saturday’s epicenter, which included Zuma Beach and Point Dume State Beach in Malibu, as defined by the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. That intensity of shaking is so mild that many people don’t recognize it as an earthquake. If they do, the vibrations felt might be similar to the passing of a truck.

    This has been an unusually active year for moderate earthquakes in Southern California. The Sept. 12 earthquake north of Malibu was part of the 14th seismic sequence this year in Southern California with at least one magnitude 4 or higher earthquake, seismologist Lucy Jones, a Caltech research associate, said earlier this month.

    That broke a record for the last 65 years. Over that time period, Jones said, there were an average of eight to 10 independent sequences of earthquakes annually that included at least one temblor of magnitude 4 or greater.

    In some years, there were just one or two of those earthquake sequences; the highest previous tally was 13 in 1988.

    The observation is not necessarily an indication that a large, damaging earthquake is around the corner, scientists said.

    Some researchers have offered dueling theories — some say earthquake activity increases in a region before a large earthquake, others say seismic activity decreases before a large jolt.

    So the recent activity does not offer any hint of when the next large, destructive temblor will occur, said Susan Hough, a U.S. Geological Survey seismologist, earlier this month.

    Did you feel this earthquake? Consider reporting what you felt to the USGS.

    Are you ready for when the Big One hits? Get ready for the next big earthquake by signing up for our Unshaken newsletter, which breaks down emergency preparedness into bite-sized steps over six weeks. Learn more about earthquake kits, which apps you need, Lucy Jones’ most important advice and more at latimes.com/Unshaken.

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    Rong-Gong Lin II

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  • A midnight 4.8 earthquake followed by a cluster of aftershocks rocks the El Centro area

    A midnight 4.8 earthquake followed by a cluster of aftershocks rocks the El Centro area

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    The agricultural community of El Centro in Imperial County had a rude midnight awakening: the force of a magnitude 4.8 earthquake and a lengthy series of aftershocks.

    The earthquake struck around 12:36 a.m. Tuesday 2 miles northwest of El Centro, in an area just off the Salton Sea that has active faults, said U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Elizabeth Cochran.

    The earthquake was followed by a magnitude 4.5 aftershock. In the 12 hours after that, more than 180 aftershocks of lower magnitude were recorded.

    If the shaking wasn’t enough, some residents were roused by the alarm their phone received from the ShakeAlert app, which initially estimated that the temblor was stronger than it proved to be. “Pretty terrible to be woken up at midnight with a loud alert telling you to take [cover] (in multiple languages) for something we didn’t even feel,” @MattInformed said on X.com (formerly known as Twitter).

    This sort of seismic tumult isn’t an uncommon occurrence in this region, however.

    “In this particular area where [the earth’s] crust itself is hotter than average, we get these pretty active sequences where we see lots and lots of aftershocks,” Cochran said. When an earthquake sequence happens, she said, most of the aftershocks are at least one magnitude unit smaller than the first shake.

    Residents close to the epicenter would have felt moderate shaking that “can be pretty frightening for folks who are close by,” Cochran said.

    Nevertheless, little or no damage is expected from that level of shaking. No damage or injuries were reported in the hours after the quakes started.

    During the last earthquake sequence in the area, in 2021, the main shock was a magnitude 5 temblor, Cochran said.



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    Karen Garcia

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