Earthquake Rocks Southern California

by BigT | July 29, 2008 at 10:46 am

4182 views | 72 Recommendations | 48 comments

At about 11:42 am PST a 5.8 magnitude earthquake hit the LA area. The epicenter was in Diamond Bar and lasted about a half a minute. What follows is, well, sort of like a live blogging of what happened from my home in Whittier, CA.

To find out what to do during, after, and before an earthquake here's a good link to a page that Humbolt college has done (HERE).

AHHHH! There was a decent earthquake here. I felt it! Waiting for aftershocks. Pray for us.

UPDATE: Listening to the radio. They're in Burbank and they felt it to. I'm in Whittier. They say that they saw buildings swaying.

Right now they're saying it's a 5.7 magnitude earthquake.

They also saw a crane swaying. On my end, dogs were freaked.

UPDATE: Just so you know, it happened at about 11:40 a.m. local time. Now they're saying it was a 5.8 magnitude and the epicenter was a couple miles South of Chino Hills. It lasted about a minute. It was weird; the house swayed back and forth for a few seconds before it stopped. More to come for a little while because, after all, it's nearly lunch time.

UPDATE: Since this is a 5.8 it is considered a moderate earthquake (5.0 - 5.9 is moderate) - according to KFI.

UPDATE: Just realized that the landlined phones are out in Whittier, not sure about any other areas. It's probably just a precaution and, if there is an emergency, you can still use your cell.

More Information & Links:

Southern California Earthquake Center

Southern California Earthquake Data Center

Earthquake Country Information

California Seismic Safety Commission

UPDATE: Phones are working again.

UPDATE: According to Vinny we did have a number of aftershocks. I think I felt one for about a couple of seconds. Nothing big though - I bet the worst is over.

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Rachel Nixon

at 10:52 on July 29th, 2008

BigT, thanks for getting this story out so quickly. It will now show up on the home page for four hours. If new developments justify it, I'll renew this flag for another cycle.

Amy Judd

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 10:52 on July 29th, 2008

BigT, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Thanks for posting this so quickly. Hope everything is ok!

julianw

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 10:57 on July 29th, 2008

BigT, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Amy Judd

at 10:57 on July 29th, 2008

Some earthquake activity stats here.

Vinny

at 10:58 on July 29th, 2008

Earthquake Details Magnitude 5.8 Date-Time Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 18:42:15 UTC Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 11:42:15 AM at epicenter Location 33.959°N, 117.752°W Depth 12.3 km (7.6 miles) Region GREATER LOS ANGELES AREA, CALIFORNIA Distances 3 km (2 miles) SW (235°) from Chino Hills, CA 8 km (5 miles) SE (127°) from Diamond Bar, CA 9 km (5 miles) NNE (23°) from Yorba Linda, CA 11 km (7 miles) S (178°) from Pomona, CA 47 km (29 miles) ESE (103°) from Los Angeles Civic Center, CA Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 0.3 km (0.2 miles); depth +/- 1.3 km (0.8 miles) Parameters Nph=144, Dmin=8 km, Rmss=0.42 sec, Gp= 18°, M-type=local magnitude (ML), Version=E Source California Integrated Seismic Net: USGS Caltech CGS UCB UCSD UNR Event ID ci14383980

Albert Milliron

at 11:56 on July 29th, 2008

I always like your data Vinny

Vinny

at 17:42 on July 29th, 2008

Thanks Al, I can't claim it as mine though it's from the USGS.

Albert Milliron

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 10:58 on July 29th, 2008

BigT, I like this story. It's good stuff. I put out a twitter to gather eyewitness reports and footage

Jarrett Martineau

at 11:01 on July 29th, 2008

Mike Tippett has posted a roundup of current Twitter posts here:

http://www.nowpublic.com/environment/earthquake-los-angeles

I'm sure there will be many more in the hours to come!

Jarrett Martineau

at 10:58 on July 29th, 2008

More updates from several sources:

BREAKING NEWS -- STRONG 5.6 TO 5.8 MAGNITUDE EARTHQUAKE SHAKES DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES. DETAILS SOON.

Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton has posted this:

An earthquake just hit us in Los Angeles before noon Pacific time!

Thankfully, it doesn't seem like it was HUGE, but it was pretty damn big.

Update: It was a 5.8.

That's big!

Reuters reports:

An earthquake struck near downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday, shaking tall buildings.
The temblor was felt at least 20 miles (32 km ) away from Los Angeles, witnesses said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake measured 5.6 magnitude.

Vinny

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 10:59 on July 29th, 2008

BigT, I like this story. It's good stuff.

PEP

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 10:59 on July 29th, 2008

BigT, I like this story. It's good stuff. Hey, I didn't see yours when I posted mine. :)

Amy Judd

at 11:00 on July 29th, 2008

A local tweet

BigT

at 11:02 on July 29th, 2008

Thank you all for your concern, flags, and extra information. I'm doing fine - it was a jolting experience though.

Hope that's the end of it.

Caoimhin1

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 11:03 on July 29th, 2008

BigT, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Vinny

at 11:09 on July 29th, 2008

USGS are reporting several aftershocks the strongest being 3.8 magnitude

Jarrett Martineau

at 11:13 on July 29th, 2008

Live video feed of LA earthquake here:

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/feature?section=news/local&id=6294074

Caoimhin1

at 11:23 on July 29th, 2008

Nice follow up work and additions BigT!

Rachel Nixon

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 11:26 on July 29th, 2008

BigT, thanks for keeping with the updates and stay safe.

uncultured

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 11:27 on July 29th, 2008

Wow - weird how Dhaka and LA both had nearly identical (on the Richter scale) earthquakes in such a short time span.

Vinny

at 11:29 on July 29th, 2008

The USGS are now reporting the quake as 5.4 magnitude, the magnitude often changes as data is revised.

Jarrett Martineau

at 11:34 on July 29th, 2008

Live video feed of LA earthquake here:

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/feature?section=news/local&id=6294074

mesu

at 11:36 on July 29th, 2008

Thanks for your report. Felt it down here in Corona del Mar... my desk and walls swayed and some books fell off the shelves. Freaky! Thanks for staying on top of it.

PEP

at 11:38 on July 29th, 2008

Hey, BigT, I've heard from several friends in the area. One, who's lived in that area since 1978 and is no stranger to shake 'n bake said that this one was really scary. Others have reported being unable to get through to people via cellphone.

For a brief time, the LA Times server was totally offline. They're back up now and have some local coverage.

Watch out for those aftershakes!

Albert Milliron

at 12:00 on July 29th, 2008

BigT you beat all the major news services as far as I can tell. Great Job.. of course when you house starts to shake that is breaking news! Here are some webcams and streaming webcams in Los Angeles

Amy Judd

at 11:57 on July 29th, 2008

There are some rumours of minor damage at LAX - but it's yet to be confirmed.

Mark in Memphis (not verified)

at 12:01 on July 29th, 2008

I was speaking with a work associate at 1:42 p.m. today (7-29) who works in Irvine and she gasped when the earthquake hit. However, like a trooper, she decided to continue our conversation.

Mark

Albert Milliron

at 12:09 on July 29th, 2008

Live News Cameras from LA This is what I use when i want to see the local view point

poolparty

at 12:12 on July 29th, 2008

Here's a text I just got from my friend in Irvine:

"I was on an inclined driveway with my foot on the brake trying not to get thrown into oncoming traffic...was crazy!!! my car started to roll back and was bouncing up and down