A magnitude 4.1 earthquake off the coast of Los Angeles County caused weak tremors throughout Southern California on Monday.
The tremor, which occurred at 8:27 a.m., was felt in Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties, according to earthquake detection instruments, and residents reported what tremor they felt to the U.S. Geological Survey. Did you feel it? ? website.
Firefighters said the earthquake “was felt by several in Pasadena” while the Rose Parade was taking place, “but no injuries or damage were reported.”
The weak shaking felt throughout the region is defined by the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale as being noticeably felt by people indoors and slightly swaying stationary motor vehicles.
The epicenter of the earthquake was about 10 miles southwest of San Pedro, 11 miles southeast of Rancho Palos Verdes, 16 miles southwest of downtown Long Beach and 16 miles northwest of Avalon on Santa Catalina Island.
An average of five earthquakes with magnitudes between 4.0 and 5.0 occur per year in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, according to a recent three-year data sample.
Seismologist Lucy Jones wrote on social media that the New Year’s Day earthquake was “not close to any known faults” and “too small to even talk about tsunamis.”
The California earthquake “had no connection with Japan,” Jones wrote. Western Japan suffered its own earthquake on New Year’s Day, which occurred shortly after 4 pm local time. The largest earthquake was magnitude 7.5 and struck a region about 190 miles northwest of Tokyo, 190 miles northeast of Kyoto and 160 miles northeast of Nagoya.
The strongest tremor in Japan occurred in Ishikawa Prefecture, along the narrow, sparsely populated Noto Peninsula that stretches off Japan’s western coast. The Associated Press said buildings collapsed and a fire started, and it was unclear how many people may have been killed or injured.
The cities closest to the Japanese earthquakes, Toyama and Kanazawa, were 50 and 70 miles, respectively, from the epicenter of that earthquake. According to the USGS, those two cities felt strong shaking as defined by the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale, in which damage is typically mild but frightening, but less intense than the strong shaking felt in more rural areas near the epicenter, which can cause significant damage to poorly constructed structures.
Find out what to do before and during an earthquake near you by subscribing to our Unshaken newsletter, which breaks down emergency preparedness into bite-sized steps over six weeks. Learn more about earthquake kits, the apps you need, top tips from Lucy Jones and more at latimes.com/Unshaken.
An earlier version of this article was automatically generated by Quakebot, a computer application that monitors the latest earthquakes detected by the USGS. A Times editor reviewed the post before publication. If you are interested in learning more about the system, please visit our FAQ list.
