Magnitude-5.2 earthquake rattles Southern California

A magnitude 5.2 earthquake strikes Kern County with shaking felt throughout Southern California Tuesday night. Image: inlandwire/IG

LOS ANGELES – A magnitude-5.2 earthquake centered about 18.5 miles southwest of Bakersfield in Kern County was felt across parts of Southern California Tuesday night, prompting the Los Angeles Fire Department to activate its “Earthquake Mode.”

The quake struck at 9:09 p.m. Tuesday, according to the US Geological Survey. The epicenter is about 89 miles north of downtown LA.

The initial quake, which had a depth of 11 kilometers, was followed by a series of aftershocks in rapid succession. The first measured at 4.5 less than a minute later, followed by a magnitude-3.0 aftershock at 9:14 p.m., a magnitude-4.0 at 9:17 p.m. and a magnitude-3.8 a few second later.

More than two dozen additional small aftershocks occurred over the ensuing hour, and were continuing to occur late Tuesday.

There were no reports of damage in Southern California.

The LAFD said that “pursuant to protocol, the LAFD is now in earthquake mode, as personnel from all 106 neighborhood fire stations conduct a strategic survey by land, air and sea of their districts, examining critical infrastructure and areas of local concern across our 470 square mile city of Los Angeles jurisdiction.”

The department announced shortly after 10 p.m. that the survey was complete, and “No significant infra/structure damage or injuries have been noted within the city of Los Angeles. If you felt this earthquake, we encourage you to submit a USGS Felt It’ report.”

Officials also encouraged residents to use the event as a reminder to prepare for “inevitable earthquake activity in our region.”

Preparedness information can be found here.

LA Metro officials said trains would be running slower Tuesday night “as per our earthquake procedure to check for any damage.”

Governor Gavin Newsom’s office said the state’s Office of Emergency Services and local first responders were “actively monitoring impacts” from the quake.

Seismologist Lucy Jones, founder of the Dr. Lucy Jones Center for Science and Society and a longtime fixture at the USGS before she left the agency in 2016, also weighed in on the quake Tuesday night.

“I felt this quake for a change,” Jones posted on X. “A M5.2 located at the southern end of the Central Valley. It is near the White Wolf fault that produced a M7.5 in 1952 but does not appear to be on that fault.”

“… Like any quake in SoCal, there is a 5 percent chance that it will be followed by something bigger. That means a 95 perecent chance that this is the largest. We have never found any characteristic that makes a quake more likely to be a foreshock,” she added. (CNS)

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