A 4.7 magnitude earthquake north of Malibu struck Southern California on Thursday.
The earthquake occurred at 7:28 am and was felt throughout the region.
“Light” shaking, as defined by the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale, was felt in Malibu, Thousand Oaks, Agoura Hills and Calabasas. Light shaking causes dishes, windows and doors to rattle, walls to creak and can feel like a heavy truck has hit a building.
“Weak” shaking was felt across much of the Los Angeles metropolitan region, including downtown Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Long Beach, the San Fernando, San Gabriel and Antelope valleys, Orange County and the Inland Empire.
The U.S. Geological Survey map placed the epicenter of the quake in Malibu, just east of South Kanan Dume Road.
(United States Geological Survey)
There have been recent earthquakes that have been felt more noticeably in densely populated areas of Southern California, but that fact does not help predict whether a larger, more destructive quake is expected to occur sooner rather than later, earthquake experts said.
Some residents were alerted by the state's earthquake early warning system.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake was felt across a wide swath of Los Angeles and Ventura counties and as far away as Goleta and Indio.
The earthquake was centered in the Malibu Hills near the Kanan-Dume Highway around Ramirez Canyon.
