Magnitude 4.9 earthquake shakes Southern California
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck California’s Mojave Desert on Monday, sending shaking that was felt as far away as Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
The earthquake, which occurred at 1 p.m., was centered about 13 miles northeast of Barstow, roughly halfway between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
There were no reports of damage or calls for service after the quake, according to Battalion Chief Travis Espinoza with the Barstow Fire Protection District.
The quake started as a little roll “and then it was a big jolt. It really shook windows and doors in Barstow,” Espinoza said.
Seismologist Lucy Jones, an expert on California earthquakes, said that many quakes of a similar magnitude to Monday’s have occurred in the Mojave Desert.
“This location is near the Calico fault — which crosses the Mojave,” Jones said in a post on X. “It is more than 50 [kilometers] from the San Andreas fault, so it will not change the probability of a San Andreas earthquake.”
The populated area that felt the strongest shaking was the town of Yermo in San Bernardino County. The U.S. Geological Survey estimated that Yermo, which is along Interstate 15, was one of the areas that endured “moderate” shaking as measured by the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale — an intensity strong enough to break windows and dishes and overturn unstable objects.
Roberto Zamarripa, 34, manager at Mis Pinchis Tacos in Yermo said the quake lasted for about a minute. “It was a strong one,” he said in Spanish when reached by phone.
There were 10 customers, three cooks and himself in the taqueria when the shaking started and everyone ran outside. “People said, ‘Hey, what happened?’ and then we went out to the cars,” Zamarripa said.
“We’re all good now, thank God,” he said. “We haven’t felt any aftershocks thankfully.”
Barstow was estimated to have felt “light” shaking, which is enough to rattle dishes and windows and feel like a heavy truck has struck a building.
The Los Angeles and Orange counties area felt “weak” shaking, noticed by some people but not others. In the Los Feliz-East Hollywood area, one person reported feeling two waves of shaking — an initial wave, followed by an easing of shaking, then walls starting to tremble.
A string of earthquakes shook just south of the border Sunday and early Monday, with the largest measured at 4.9, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
In Silver Lake, a cat slept through shaking while his owner, on the third floor of an apartment building, reported feeling a rolling motion. Some people at Los Angeles City Hall felt shaking, while some in El Segundo felt gentle swaying.
Shaking was also felt at North Las Vegas City Hall.
In the last 10 days, there have been no earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater centered nearby.
An average of 25 earthquakes with magnitudes between 4.0 and 5.0 occur per year in California and Nevada, according to a recent three-year data sample.
The earthquake occurred at a depth of 4.9 miles. Did you feel it? Consider reporting what you felt to the USGS.
Find out what to do before, and during, an earthquake near you by signing up for The Times’ 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.
The first version of this story was automatically generated by Quakebot, a computer application that monitors the latest earthquakes detected by the USGS. A Times editor reviewed the post before it was published. If you’re interested in learning more about the system, visit our list of frequently asked questions.
Times staff writers Jim Buzinski, Dakota Smith, Brittny Mejia and Joel Rubin contributed to this report.
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