After the initial quake hit the area, over two dozen aftershocks, including two of magnitude 3.4, were felt with more aftershocks possible in the hours and days ahead, AP news agency reported.
The US Geological Survey said the earthquake was centred 4 miles (7 km) north of Malibu and was about 7 miles (11 km) below the surface.
The quake happened as the region has been dealing with three major wildfires burning east of Los Angeles that torched dozens of homes and forced thousands to evacuate. The blazes erupted during a blistering heat wave that has just subsided.
The earthquake’s epicentre was closest to the Malibu fault, but also in proximity to the Anacapa fault, as stated by Lucy Jones, a seismologist from the California Institute of Technology. Earthquakes with magnitudes below 5.0 are too small to be conclusively linked to large faults that are mapped at the earth’s surface.
“It’s a garden-variety Southern California earthquake,” Jones said.
The 115-year-old Santa Monica Pier, located approximately 12 miles (19 km) from Malibu, experienced several seconds of intense shaking during the quake, as captured by a live camera. Several morning newscasts also recorded the earthquake live as cameras shook in television studios.
KTLA-TV reported that a crew was working on clearing large boulders that had rolled onto Malibu Canyon Road, near the epicentre.
Bruce Silverstein, a Malibu Councilmember who has lived in the community for 13 years, described this quake as the hardest yet, but noted that nothing broke, reported AP news agency.
“Our house shook for about two or three seconds. I was concerned the windows were going to pop,” Silverstein said.
At The Country Kitchen breakfast place in Malibu, manager Rene Vasquez said the shaking lasted a few seconds and kitchen staff ducked outside as a precaution.
“It wasn’t that bad,” Vasquez said. “Thank God nothing fell.”
Several celebrities and other people took to social media to post that the jolt awakened them.
Hotel heiress and media personality Paris Hilton wrote on X, “That #Earthquake was scary.” Reality TV star Khloe Kardashian posted: “Damn that was a big one.”
Some residents reported being alerted by the state’s earthquake early warning system.
Source : Times of India
