California's San Fernando Valley shaken by M4.2 earthquake, no damage reported
Parts of the San Fernando Valley were shaken by a earthquake early Thursday morning, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the magnitude 4.2 tremor struck 2 kilometres north of Pacoima, Calif. It occurred at a depth of 7.9 kilometres. Pacoima is about 37 kilometres northwest of downtown Los Angeles.
"An earthquake of 4.2 magnitude hit about a mile (2 km) north of the Los Angeles community of Pacoima on Thursday, the USGS said. There were no immediate reports of damage.
Though relatively small in magnitude, the quake, which struck at 4:29 a.m. Pacific time (1129 GMT), was felt in much of the Los Angeles area, social media reports said. A second quake of 3.3 magnitude struck nine minutes later, the survey said.
People on social media reported feeling the quake in areas such as North Hollywood and Sherman Oaks, with some saying they did not receive a #ShakeAlert message on their phones.
"Felt it in Sherman Oaks! Woke us up from a dead sleep. No alert on the phone, though," Twitter user Joe Hubbard said.
Another Twitter user, Lee A Houck, said she received an alert after the shaking began.
"Usually there's more notice to drop, cover, hold on," Houck said.
According to the LA Times, there has been one earthquake of magnitude 3.0 or greater centred nearby in the past 10 days. An average of five earthquakes with magnitudes registering between 4 and 5 occur per year in the greater Los Angeles area, according to a recent three-year data sample.
With files from Reuters.
