US: Earthquake of magnitude 5.3 strikes southern California

The USGS said the tremor hit 23 km southwest of Lamont town at a depth of 11.7 km.

The quake was followed by several aftershocks of magnitude between 2.5 to 4.1, data from the USGS show.

The quake struck at 9:39pm (local time), and there were no immediate reports of damage.

Several people took to social media to share about the earthquake.

“Just had a pretty big earthquake hit us here in California. 5.4. Originally said it was 6.0. It lasted quite a while. We are shaken but ok. Hopefully, I can sleep tonight,” a user wrote on X.

“There have been some Earthquakes in Southern California! Please stay safe and heed the warnings sent to your devices,” another user wrote.

Earthquakes are commonplace in seismically active California and generally cause little or no property damage.

Earlier this year, a magnitude 4.6 earthquake had struck Southern California northwest of Los Angeles in February, rattling a wide area around the nation’s second-most populous city. There were no reports of any fatalities or damage, according to Reuters.

The tremor was initially recorded at a magnitude of 5.1, but was downgraded later by the USGS to 4.6.

Some major earthquakes in US

Following is a list of some of the major U.S. earthquakes:

• Nov 3, 2002 – A 7.9 magnitude quake centered on a sparsely populated area south of Fairbanks, Alaska was felt from the Arctic Circle to the Gulf of Mexico. It appears to have caused remarkably little serious damage and only minor injuries.
• Jan 17, 1994 – A magnitude 6.7 quake in Northridge, California, in the San Fernando Valley in northern Los Angeles killed 60 people, injured more than 7,000, left 20,000 homeless and damaged more than 40,000 buildings. It collapsed overpasses, closing sections of four major area freeways. Damage estimates ranged from $13 billion and $30 billion.
• June 28, 1992 – A magnitude 7.3 quake in Landers, California near Yucca Valley in the Mojave Desert killed one person and injured 400. It was felt throughout the Southwest.
• Oct 17, 1989 – A magnitude 6.9 quake in the Santa Cruz Mountains near the Loma Prieta Mountains in northern California killed 63 people, caused 3,757 injuries and an estimated $6 billion in property damage. The most severe damage occurred in Oakland and San Francisco about 60 miles (100 km) north, where several sections of major freeways collapsed.
• Feb 9, 1971 – A magnitude 6.6 quake struck in a sparsely populated area of the San Gabriel Mountains in Southern California. It killed 65 people, injured more than 2,000 and caused property damage estimated at more than $505 million.

(Inputs from Reuters)