Residents of some parts of Los Angeles County were rattled on Sunday afternoon by a minor earthquake centered west of Malibu, Calif. Preliminary estimates showed that the quake had a magnitude of 4.1, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
The authorities said they were surveying for signs of damage, though quakes of that magnitude do not usually cause very much, if any.
The temblor struck during what experts say could be a period of increased seismic activity in the state, after decades of relative quiet. But its occurrence does not signal that a larger, catastrophic quake is any more likely.
Seismologists have long warned that an overdue “Big One,” the likes of which California has not experienced since 1906, could happen at any time. They have urged residents to prepare as much as possible by assembling emergency supplies and practicing “drop, cover and hold on” exercises with their children.
It has been three decades since a significant quake struck California.
The Loma Prieta earthquake, with a magnitude of 6.9, shook the Santa Cruz Mountains in 1989, leaving 63 people dead and more than 3,700 people injured.
A magnitude 6.7 quake in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles in 1994 left 60 people dead, about 7,000 injured and more than 40,000 buildings damaged. The catastrophe also revealed a major defect in some steel-frame buildings, including many high rises, which under extreme shaking could collapse.
The post Small Earthquake Rattles Southern California appeared first on New York Times.
