A magnitude 5.8 earthquake has rattled Los Angeles, California
July 29th, 2008 by Scott Thomas
Just got a breaking news alert from CNN.com, but of course they have nothing on their website except a link to subscribe to news alerts. I will update this post as I find out more information.
I cannot find anything on the Internet about this yet, but I came across some interesting info on the Richter scale. According to www.seismo.unr.edu, “At most slight damage to well-designed buildings. Can cause major damage to poorly constructed buildings over small regions.”
This is pretty reassuring as only slight damage should be expected.
Update 12:10 Pacific Time: Came across this map from the USGS website. It details the affected area and intensity.
Update 12:18 Pacific Time: Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Brian Humphrey said there were no immediate reports of damage or injury in Los Angeles. San Bernardino County fire dispatch also had no immediate reports of damage.
Update 12:22 Pacific Time: WBZ, a CBS affiliate just posted an article on the earthquake.
Update 12:27 Pacific Time: A spokesman for Los Angeles International Airport said there were no flight delays as a result of the quake.
For those of you asking about Katherine Wolf, who is recovering in the Acute Neurological Rehabilitation Unit @ UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, we are still trying to get a confirmation, but everything appears to be OK.
Update 12:43 Pacific Time: Created a Google Map of the affected area. I encourage anyone in southern cali right now to post updates directly to the map itself.
Update 1:19 Pacific Time: All is well at UCLA Medical Center. Tremors were felt, but no injuries. Also, cell phone service has been restored to the area.
If you find any photos of the affected area, please reply here or email me at scott.thomas (at) beasleyallen.com. Thanks in advance.
More information: The 1994 Northridge earthquake under Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley was magnitude 6.7. It killed 72 people, injured more than 9,000 and caused $25 billion in damage in the metropolitan area.
California is one of the world’s most seismically active regions. More than 300 faults crisscross the state, which sits atop two of Earth’s major tectonic plates, the Pacific and North American plates. About 10,000 quakes each year rattle Southern California alone, although most of them are too small to be felt.