Los Angeles Earthquake Blog

3.1 Quake In El Segundo

I didn't want to believe it when I felt my chair move, but I'm confirming that a 3.1 quake happened near El Segundo, here in Southern California. The quake happened at 9:14 p.m. No damage has been reported. For the report, go here: http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/FaultMaps/118-34.htm

Better Prepared Than Sorry

Since the last two Lennox/Hawthorne light quakes we had last week things have been relatively quiet in our region.

It's important to point out that the Newport-Inglewood fault that caused the quakes in Lennox and Hawthorne is not the only fault that can cause destructive earthquakes in Los Angeles. The San Andreas fault is the most well-known fault, but we also have dozens of faults beneath us all over -- beneath downtown, in Long Beach, Santa Monica, the valley, Malibu, Whittier, etc.

I would urge you to not feel like the quakes we had last week are the last quakes we will have for a while -- don't get too comfortable. Regardless of when a quake may or may not hit being always prepared is the wise thing to do. I for example am always checking where I'm lacking -- do I have enough stored water? Have I replished my box of emergency food? Are my batteries still fresh?

Use this time to continue working on getting your family ready for a quake. Talk to people and tell them about the importance of knowing what to do when a quake hits. On my flight to DC last week, I sat next to a woman and her husband from the South Bay who said that when the Lennox quake hit all they did was sit on their coach. A lot of people don't yet understand the importance of "Duck, cover, and hold on."

Earthquakes are a reality for all of us who live in Southern California, they are not going away and neither are we, so the more you know about how to ready yourself for the Big One or the little quakes, the better.

Update: Hawthorne quake was a 4.1 in magnitude

The LA Times is saying the quake was a 4.1 magnitude shake. The info I got from the USGS alert system was that it was a 3.9 quake. Anyhow, let's go with 4.1.

Newport-Inglewood fault acting up

I'm getting in touch with a few people about what's going with these moderate tremors we've had in the LAX area over the past couple of days. Unfortunately, I'm in DC right now and it's hard to get info through jammed phone lines.

So, the latest quake was a 3.9 quake that hit Hawthorne at 3:49 pm this afternoon. The last strong quake we had in that same area was this past Sunday -- a 4.7 magnitude quake in Lennox.

Seems like the Newport-Inglewood fault is releasing some built up pressure through these aftershocks.

This fault is known for causing violent quakes, like 1933 Long Beach quake which was over 6.3 in magnitude. I would suggest you stay alert since these aftershocks could be as strong as the original quake.

Earthquake hits in Hawthorne

A 3.9 quake shook Hawthorne about 20 minutes ago. This quake was a mile or two away from the quake on Sunday.

I'm out of town, so you will have better info from news outlets in the area.

I will keep you posted as more quakes occur.

Blogging from DC this week

I'm not going to be in Los Angeles for a few days, but I will be updating you if a quake in hits SoCal while I'm away.

There are plenty of articles on preparedness on this blog, so if you haven't read them you may want to take a look. Also, please visit the links to resources and check out some of the sites I've listed.

Be safe and be prepared. Write to you all soon!

A Quick Look At The Events Leading To The Lennox Quake

Most local news outlets are reporting about last night's 4.7 magnitude one mile east of Lennox, CA --- in South Los Angeles, near Hawthorne.

The Los Angeles Times is focusing on the location of the quake -- near the Newport-Inglewood fault. Geophycists from the U.S. Geological Survey haven't seen a large quake like that since the 1933 Long Beach quake. I guess they will be looking at this fault more closely from here on.

Okay, the non-boring stuff:

Turns out that a couple of people told me that their pets were acting a bit strange before the quake hit. Not only that but the weather was unseasonably warm in Los Angeles over the past couple of days. Coincidence or does this shed a bit of truth to "myths" of earthquake prediction?

ANIMALS PREDICTING QUAKES

There has been some research done on unusual animal behavior before a quake hits (you can read more about this here). China seems to really take strange animal behavior more seriously than we do here in the US since a few of their quakes were preceded by days of endless dog barking and birds flying like crazy.

Personatelly, I own a gekco, but he wasn't acting any more strange than the usual. Also, I don't recall hearing any neighborhood dogs barking either. So, can it be that some animals are more keen than others at sensing seismic vibrations or certain frequencies? Hmmm....

Comments are open for you to tell me of any strange animal behavior from your pets before last night's quake.

WEATHER PATTERNS TO PREDICT QUAKES

So yes, the weather was a bit warm these past few days in Los Angeles. However, we're not unfamiliar with heat waves in this region, but there was a news report back in January about Geologists and Metereologists teaming up to figure out the connection between quakes and weather patterns (read it here).

It seems more clear to me that those "myths" that scientist have disregarded for years could actually help in the prediction of quakes. Still, you can't really say that just because a dog is barking strangely that a quake will hit in the next minute, or if we're having a very hot day in winter that a quake will hit that week.

You can read more about earthquake prediction in this useful Wikipedia article.

THE BIG ONE

What's next after last night's Lennox quake? Well, the Big One hasn't hit yet. Geophysicists are predicting that the Big One will take place along the San Andreas fault, at the Salton Sea. The quake yesterday could be just a reminder of what's to come and to shake us a bit, literarily. We tend to be a very optimistic society where we believe we will always be safe, the reality if that quakes do kill people and unless we begin to take the force of Mother Nature more seriously we will always be scared instead of prepared.

UPDATED at 11:09 p.m. May 17 -- Earthquake shakes Los Angeles. Epicenter near Lennox.

A 4.7 magnitude earthquake shook one mile East of Lennox - in South Los Angeles at 8:39 pm. The earthquake was felt strongly in Los Angeles since the epicenter was only 10 miles away from downtown. Shaking went on for about 15-30 seconds. Smaller quakes have hit the same area since, one was a 3.1 magnitude at 8:45 pm. The quake was felt more violently in coastal areas near LAX.

Officials have issued a statement saying that a Tsunami will not be generated by this quake.

The quake hit on the Newport-Inglewood Fault. This is a Quaternary fault - these types of faults are able to create 6.0 plus  magnitude quakes.

Read the quake's report from USGS.

Some damage has been reported in people's homes -- fallen objects mostly. Remember to duck, cover and hold on! Don't run outside.

I'm getting reports from folks in Orange County feeling significant shaking. Got comments of people feeling shaking all the way down in San Diego and Riverside. The quake was felt within a 100 mile radius.

Reports are coming in of cell phone outages in some areas.

Upcoming Workshop Is All About Natural Disasters

Another quiet week here in Southern California. There haven't been ANY earthquakes over 3.0 in magnitude since the quakes we had in Malibu two weeks ago! This is the perfect time to keep stocking up and preparing because once a major quake hits, it's too late.

I'm reading a really amazing article that was published on TIME magazine back in 2006 about why people don't think of preparing for a disaster as an important priority. I'm not done with the article yet, but I will be writing a blog post about this in the next day.

Also, I wanted to let you know that there is going to be a very interesting workshop happening at the University of Colorado, Boulder in early July, it's called the Hazards Research and Applications Workshop. This is the big event of the year for people fascinated by emergency preparedness. I highly recommend you check it out. This is a short description:

"The Annual Natural Hazards Research and Applications Workshop is designed to bring hazards researchers and practitioners from many disciplines together for face-to-face discussions on issues and trends that affect how society deals with hazards and disasters. It provides a dynamic and challenging forum for the diverse opinions and perspectives of the hazards community. You can request an invitation using the online registration link to the left."

I may be going to the event as media, so even if you can't go I'll make sure to report back about it.

Pakistan Closer To Predicting Earthquakes?

"The News International" one of Pakistan's English newspapers is reporting that Pakistani geophysicists at Preston University in Islamabad say that they are closer to accurately predicting earthquakes. This is quite interesting if you ask me, wouldn't it be awesome if we could predict when a quake was going to hit here in Southern California?! So many lives could be saved.

The article wasn't very specific about the methodology that the Pakistani scientists are using to predict quakes, just that they are looking at broadcast radio, cell phone, and TV signals for clues. Seismologists have already looked into electromagnetic fields to predict quakes, but from what I know nothing has come of it. I guess broadcast signals may be something that hasn't been explored before.

Here is part of the article:

"The team of the Preston University is also working on another problem that is associated with the advent of earthquake when the signals of broadcast for TV sets, consumer radios or even hand radios and cellular phones are completely nullified with the result of non-functionally dead response of these sets showing no programme and thus no information of impending earthquake can be propagated through these communication channels. According to these experts, the dead response can perpetuate for hours before the advent of earthquake and therefore the Preston University is trying to convert this dead communication scenario as the precursor for the earthquake."

The southwestern part of Pakistan was hit by a magnitude 6.4 quake in October of last year. The quake left a few hundred people dead, but left thousands homeless. Since the disaster, the Pakistani government has been actively working on improving how they prepare for earthquakes. The urgency of being better prepared for the next quake is perhaps what has pushed the scientists at Preston University to seriously look into earthquake prediction.

Anything that can be done to save lives is useful and even if the scientists in Islamabad don't reach a 100% accurate method to predict quakes -- 50% predictability would do. Throughout history, people have unsuccessfully tried to predict quakes in many different ways, according to Wikipedia:

"....people have tried to associate an impending earthquake with such varied phenomena as seismicity patterns, electromagnetic fields, ground movement, weather conditions and unusual clouds, radon or hydrogen gas content of soil or ground water, water level in wells, animal behavior, and the phases of the moon."

I'll keep following any news coming from Pakistan on the efforts there to come up with an accurate way to predict quakes -- American seismologists should take a look too at what scientists there are doing. The world could benefit greatly from peaceful collaboration, specially in this area.