Aftershocks are expected following earthquakes, according to the USGS. Seismologists said there was about a 5 percent chance that Friday’s quake, which struck at 9:09 p.m., was a foreshock to a bigger temblor.
No injuries were immediately reported from either Saturday’s quake or the more significant earthquake that struck Friday evening outside La Habra, California, which is about 20 miles east of downtown Los Angeles.
Friday’s temblor displaced at least 50 people in Fullerton, about 5 miles from the epicenter, because of minor damage to homes and apartment dwellings, Fullerton Police Lieutenant Mike Chlebowski said.
As well, a water main break in the city forced the closure of some streets due to flooding, he said.
The quake also shook items off tables, rattled chandeliers and resulted in scattered damage to cars and property, including setting off a rockslide in the Orange County city of Brea that flipped a car on its roof.
Friday’s quake was felt as far away as Palm Springs in the east, San Diego in the south and Ventura County to the north. While not large, the event “seems unusual, of course, because a lot of people felt it,” said Doug Given, a USGS geophysicist.
“These quakes occur in populated areas and people try to put two and two together and predict that something more is coming, but that’s simply not the case,” he said.
The quake shut down Metrolink trains to allow for inspection of tracks and cars. In Anaheim, Disneyland briefly turned off park rides as a precaution and asked guests to remain seated.
But the Los Angeles Philharmonic didn’t miss a note even as the quake rattled downtown Los Angeles’s Walt Disney Concert Hall, The Los Angeles Times reported.
“The L.A. Philharmonic should get combat pay,” audience member Michael Healy told the newspaper.
A shallow magnitude 2.5 earthquake was reported Saturday evening one mile from Brea, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The temblor occurred at 10:23 p.m. Pacific time at a depth of 0.6 miles.
According to the USGS, the epicenter was two miles from La Habra, two miles from Rowland Heights, and four miles from Fullerton.
In the past 10 days, there have been seven earthquakes magnitude 3.0 and greater centered nearby.